One of the key features of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Assam has been the large-scale participation of artistes almost on a daily basis. Over the last three weeks, there have been huge cultural protests in Guwahati and several other parts of the state, which have been attended by thousands. 

Jahnu Barua, a Padma Bhushan awardee and multiple National Award-winning filmmaker from Assam, was one of the early voices to come out openly against the new law. To mark his protest, he withdrew his film Bhaga Khiriki from a festival organised by the Assam state government. 

Besides a number of memorable films, Barua is known for taking a stand on important issues. In 2015, when students of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, were protesting against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman, he resigned from the FTII Society in solidarity with the protesters.

In this exclusive interview with Newslaundry, Jahnu Barua talks about why he opposes the new citizenship law, how it poses a threat to the northeast and the country, and more. Here are edited excerpts from the interview.

Opposing the new citizenship law in the country, you recently withdrew your film Bhaga Khiriki from the film festival organised by the Assam state government. Why do you think this amended law poses a threat to Assam and other states in the northeast?

My conscience didn’t allow me to participate [in the festival] at the backdrop of the unrest in Assam which I believe is very genuine. The entire northeast of India is composed of dozens of indigenous communities who are very attached to their land, language and cultural idioms. But given the long history of migration from outside the region, both during the colonial and post-colonial period, these communities have experienced a threat [to their cultural identity]. So, their anxieties need to be respected. 

Even the United Nations has recognised different rights of indigenous peoples and India is a signatory of that Convention. Assam already accepted an additional burden of foreigners till March 24, 1971 through the Assam Accord. But by bringing the new citizenship law, the government is violating these principles and creating tension in the region by legalising more immigrants.

Among the artistes from Assam, yours has been a prominent voice against the CAA. Over the days, we have seen almost the entire artiste fraternity in Assam vociferously resisting the Act. In a situation like this, why is it important for artistes to speak up?

It’s important because being icons and having a big following behind them, they can do wonders. Their participation is very much necessary to amplify the public sentiments. But at the same time, I believe they need to show responsibility and maturity while voicing their thoughts. Before speaking up, they should educate themselves on the history, facts and different aspects of an issue. Otherwise, despite having prominent names, their views won’t be taken seriously. 

But when it comes to the Hindi film industry, barring a handful of voices, we often see a striking silence from popular icons on important social and political issues. Your thoughts on that.

That is very unfortunate. Many of these stars maintain a proximity to certain politicians or at least try to be in their good books. So, they are obliged to keep mum on political issues. But they should realise that people have expectations from them on issues of greater public interest. It is good to see a section of the Hindi film industry speaking up frankly nowadays. But others need to do that as well.

There is a notion that the present political climate is not conducive enough for the stars to speak up publicly. For example, filmmakers have been physically targeted for “problematic” portrayal of characters, artists often get hounded by social media trolls for expressing opinions, and so on. Yet, some of them continue to voice opinions and take positions on issues. Therefore, do you think that instead of standing up firmly, many big names have easily succumbed to such spiteful forces?

That is because the prevailing political climate in the country has not allowed any wisdom to emerge. In recent years, the abuse on social media platforms has definitely created uncertainties and a sense of fear among many artistes. Their commercial interests are intertwined with their public persona. Hence, we cannot straightaway blame some people for not taking a stand publicly. The atmosphere needs to be suitable [to express opinions] too. 

But despite such pressures, the way some of the younger faces have spoken out lately — it is heartening to see that.

The protests against the CAA have snowballed across the country. But many in Assam, and also in other northeastern states, complain that there is a difference between their struggle and the larger pan-India movement that is going on. What do you say? 

Yes, a very big difference! The movement outside the region has largely focused, and very rightly so, on the unconstitutional and religiously discriminatory nature of the new citizenship law. But the people of Assam and the northeast are resisting it for some fundamentally different reasons. Their primary concern relates to a possibility of being linguistically and culturally outnumbered by Bangladeshi immigrants who the Act aims to legalise easily. By immigrants, the people refer to and resist both Hindus and Muslims. So, while they do question the unconstitutional nature of the new law, their resistance has little to do with any religion. 

But many in India have failed to understand that. They should accommodate the identity-related concerns of the people from India’s northeast in the larger movement against CAA.

On the other hand, there is a section of the commentariat in “mainland” India which tends to label the voices from the northeast as “xenophobic” for constantly raising concerns over their identity. One premise of such arguments is the number of past incidents of violence in the region against “outsiders”. How do you see this debate?

I have just one way to put it: it is very stupid of them [to say that]. Of course, violence against people from outside the region is strictly condemnable. But that cannot make an entire society xenophobic or jingoistic. Such accusations stem from a lack of knowledge about the history of the region. The Assamese society prides itself on the legacy of peace and harmony as taught by Sankardeva and Azan Fakir, the great Neo-Vaishnavite saint and Sufi preacher of late medieval Assam. Across the northeast, so many diverse communities migrated and assimilated over centuries. Our fight is only against illegal immigrants and the threat they pose to many small nationalities of the region.

A few years back, when there was a student protest at the FTII, you resigned from the FTII Society in solidarity with them. Now, the government has assumed an iron hand to quell the anti-CAA protests. Students in many university campuses across the country have been brutally beaten up and detained. What signal does it send for our democracy?

Students protest all the time because they have genuine grievances. Therefore, they must be heard by the government. I agree that dealing with the government also requires some skills and patience from the protesters. But the government cannot be arrogant to engage with them. An iron-hand approach to silence the protesting students is never acceptable. They are the future of this country. In such situations, the government should therefore strive to create a conducive space for dialogue. 

In Assam, the anti-CAA protests have been organised under many banners so far. This is a natural development in most movements. Not that the protests have lost any steam, yet do you think this fragmentation of voices can eventually weaken the overall movement?

Yes, all the organisations leading the protests, forgetting their internal differences, should soon form a coordination committee. It is necessary because the ultimate goal is the same: that is, the nullification of the Act. Such an effort will definitely give added energy to the resistance against the Act. 

Now that the protests against the citizenship law have spread all over the country, agitators in Assam and the northeast worry that their particular grievances have been overshadowed by the larger narrative — one that mostly opposes the Act terming it unconstitutional and non-secular. This apprehension can be clearly seen in the social media commentary of many from the region. Your comments.

That is where we, the people from the northeast, have a responsibility to sensitise the rest of the country. Personally, I have tried explaining to many of my friends and they have understood our concerns. So, if all of us do that even at a personal level, I am sure more and more people will appreciate our worries and sympathise with our struggle.

During the Assam Agitation of the 1980s, a delegation was sent by the leadership from the state to several parts of the country. Their task was to counter the “misinformation” regarding the movement and disseminate the “actual message” before the country. Today, given the complaint by many of a “communication gap”, is there a need for a similar campaign to publicise the specificities of the region?

Yes, very much! When the delegation came to Mumbai, I was actively involved with them. And I could see how effective it was in sensitising the non-Assamese people about the need to fight illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. If the current leadership of the resistance [against CAA] desires, I will be happy to lead a publicity campaign. 

The state government has, in the last few days, doled out a number of schemes and promises to the artistes, youths and many ethnic groups in Assam. Many see this as an attempt to subdue the ongoing protests. Do you think such moves hold the potential to dilute the people’s movement against CAA?

What the government has done is regressive and a shrewd strategy to soften up the movement. They could have extended all these benefits and schemes much earlier because these are genuine dues of the people. I have only one request to everyone back home: please continue your resistance to the Act, democratically but firmly, and do not get distracted.