Isfaqur
Rahman
ASSAM continues
to burn. The multi-ethnic, multi-religious and
multi-national state, once
again, witnessed horrible incidents of ethnic-communal
violence in the Bodoland
Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) since the eruption of
hostilities among
different communities – mainly between the Bodos and
Muslim minorities – from
the first week of July. Since July 19, lower Assam’s
Kokrajhar and Chirang
districts under BTAD administration and adjoining Dhubri
district have been
experiencing the worst form of frenzied violence. At least
60 persons,
including children and women, have been killed. Several
others remained
untraced till the filing of this
report (August 1, 2012). Moreover, nearly 4 lakh people
have taken shelter in
274 relief camps. In the four districts – Kokrajhar,
Chirang, Dhubri and
Bongaigaon in western Assam – a total of 244
villages and 45,000 families
were affected and five thousand houses were burnt to
ashes.
For
quite a long time, there
were simmering tensions between different ethnic groups
residing in the BTAD
areas. The politics of identity have also been playing
havoc. There were
demands for further vivisection of Assam
and creation of a separate
‘Bodoland state’. There were also demands for a ‘Kamatapur
state’ raised by a
section of Rajbongshi people. Communal and fundamentalist
forces were also at
work. Various non-Bodo organisations oppose “Bodoland” and
demand redrawing of
the BTAD areas by excluding certain villages where
non-Bodos are overwhelming
majority. The security and safety of the people was also a
cause for concern.
Mutual distrust, ill-faith and ill-feelings among
different groups and
communities prevailed for quite some time now.
TRIGGER FOR
THE VIOLENCE
On
July 6, two
poor Muslim peasants were killed by
unidentified gunmen at Mussalmanpara near Bhowraguri under
Dotoma police station
in Kokrajhar district. When tension was brewing after this
incident, two
student leaders of the Minority Students’ Union
were attacked in Magurmari near Kokrajhar on July 19. This
was followed by the
killing of four former Bodo Liberation Tiger workers on
July 20 at Jaypur-Namapara
near Kokrajhar town – the headquarters of BTAD
administration. The eruption of
violence and counter-violence started soon after and
spread to the interior
areas. Ironically, both Bodo and Muslim leaders see a
design in the
orchestrated violence which spread like wild fire. Now the
situation is quite
disturbing as the cycle of violence has communal
implications and unless
tackled with a firm hand, it might well trigger a large
scale communal flare-up
in the state. The state administration will have to
exhibit greater alacrity in
preventing any further
escalation of
violence. The state and central governments must take a
serious note of the
developments and ensure security and safety to all
sections of the people.
As
a matter of fact, the
volatile law and order situation in the BTAD areas has
been a matter of concern
for quite some time now with extortions, killings and
kidnappings assuming
alarming proportions. While the situation warrants firm
handling by both the BTC
and the state government, it is precisely the lax attitude
of the authorities
that has largely been responsible for the growing
lawlessness in Bodoland
areas, allowing extremist outfits as well as surrendered
ultras to have a free
run. Easy availability of firearms with the militant
outfits has been a major
factor perpetuating a situation of strife and tension in
BTAD. From extremist
and surrendered extremists to every other trouble mongers,
firearms have an all
pervasive presence in the BTAD. Muslim fundamentalist
forces are also no less
active. The overall situation in BTAD areas is
characterised by a growing cult
of violence and fratricidal killings. The progress that
the creation of the BTC
was supposed to usher in will remain a mirage unless there
is an end to the
prevailing gun culture.
DISTURBING
SITUATION
Notwithstanding
a slight
improvement following deployment of security forces, the
situation in the
strife-torn BTAD and adjoining Dhubri continues to be
extremely disturbing with
more and more bodies of riot-hit victims being recovered.
There have also been
incidents of arson at places, with people fleeing their
homes and hearths in
their hordes. People are taking shelter in hoplessly
inadequate relief camps –
without food and drinking water. Restoration of normalcy,
peace and harmony in
the days ahead will certainly pose a Herculean challenge
before the government.
Physical rehabiliation apart, the trauma suffered by the
affected people – both
Bodos and Muslims – will take a long time to heal as will
the breached trust
between the two communities.
It
may be recalled that
communal violence of similar scale had affected Udalguri
district in october,
2008. But the authoritics
failed to learn anything from it. The current carnage
could well have been
avoided but for the inexplicable laxity of the authorities
in nabbing the
culprits behind the incidents of frenzied violence
perpetrated by the trouble
mongers of both the communities.
The
BJP and its saftorn brigade
have been trying to fish in troubled
waters and blaming the illegal Bangladeshi migrants for
the violence. The Bodo
People’s Front (BPF), a coalition partner of the
Congress-led government in Assam, has
also
echoed similar sentiments. Even the BTC chief Hagrama
Mahilary has stated that
the violence is being perpetrated by an organised
gang of illegal infiltrators from across the Bangladesh
border. But saner
sections have maintained that this is a wild allegation
and gross distortion of
facts. Even the central and state governments have ruled
out the possibility of
a foreign hand behind the riots.
Terming
the largescale ethnic
violence in Assam
as a ‘blot on the nation’, prime minister Dr Manmohan
Singh announced a Rs 300
crore Central Relief Package for the violence-hit people
after visiting two
relief camps at Kokrakhar on July 28. But considering the
woes and sufferings,
death and destruction, this meagre amount will not serve
the purpose.
CPI (M)
DELEGATION
VISITS
VIOLENCE-HIT AREAS
A
three member team of the CPI(M)
MPs, including the leader of the CPI(M) group in Lok
Sabha, Basudev Acharia,
visited Kokrajhar and Bijni on July 28 to take stock of
the situation. The
other two MPs were Bajuban Riang and Saidul Haque. The
delegation was
accompanied by the state leaders of the CPI(M) including
the state secretary
Uddhab Barman and two other former MLAs, Purna Boro and
Ananta Deka, and also state
secretariat members, Monoranjan Talukdar and Fazlur
Rahman. The delegation met
cross-section of the people, visited relief camps and
exchanged views with the
inmates.
The
delegation first visited
the relief camp at Kakritola M E
School
(Nayek Gaon) in Kokrajhar
where more than 3000 people belonging to the Bodo
communities of 17 villages
are taking shelter. The CPI(M) delegation also visited
Bangaldoba village which
was completely burnt down on July 23-24.
The
delegation was shocked to
see the Nayabhita village where the houses of around 200
Muslim families were
completely gutted on
July 22. The
incident of arson and looting took place near the Dotoma
police station, which
was hardly 50 meters away.
Later,
the CPI(M) delegation
moved to Bijni and visited a relief camp at Bijni Motilal
Bagaria M V School
where 900 Muslims, including 200 children, were taking
shelter. It also visited
a Bodo camp at Bijni College.
After
visiting the violence-hit
areas, the CPI(M) delegation held a press conference at
the state headquarters
of the Party in Guwahati on July 29. Addressing the media
persons, Basudev
Acharia stated the experience of the Party delegation.
Bajuban Riang and Saidul
Haque also addressed along with Party state secretary
Uddhab Barman and senior
Party leader Hemen Das. The CPI(M) leaders expressed grave
shock and
consternation at the horrific incidents of violence and
destruction. They charged
that the Congress-led dispensation in Assam was totally
caught off guard by the
carnage. The state government has even failed to protect
the life and property
of the people and discharge its constitutional
responsibilities.
The
law enforcing machinery was
a silent spectator in many places to the gruesome
incidents of killing and
arson. For inexplicable reasons, deployment of security
forces were delayed by
at least a couple of days – something that caused
escalation of violence and
the resultan destructions, including loss of lives. It is
also not understood
why the central government too failed to assess the
gravity of the situation.
Tension had been brewing in BTAD for quite some time but
both the BTAD
authorities and the state government chose to remain blind
to the spectre of
possible carnage while the situation warranted
reinforcement of police and
security forces. The delegation leaders said that the
relief camps were being run
without proper food materials and other essentials. Even
baby foods were not
provided adequately. The administration should ensure
supply of essentials
including medical service to the inmates in the relief
camps, the CPI(M)
leaders demanded.
The
press note issued by the
CPI(M) on this occasion stated, ‘At the present critical
juncture, the first
and foremost task is to check violence with a firm hand
and restore peace and
unity among all sections of the people. The government
must ensure full
security and make arrangement for immediate rehabilitation
and safe return of
the people to their own place of
residence. Adequate compensation, relief and
rehabilitation to the affected
people must be ensured on a war-footing. The relief
measures announced by the prime
minister and the chief minister should immediately be
implemented.
‘The
CPI (M) appeals to all
sections of the people of the trouble-torn areas to resist
fratricidal clashes
and to restore peace and tranquillity at any cost for
building mutual trust and
confidence. All sections of the people must defeat the
forces of division and
reaction and strengthen the unity and harmony in the
area.’
The
CPI(M) has also been
organising peace processions, meetings etc. at different
places of the state
includimg Guwahati, Rangia, Barpeta Road, Sorbhog,
Kalgachia, Dhekiajuli,
Tezpur, Sarthebari. It has appealed to all sections of the
people to
restore normalcy and maintain peace and
amity. The Party also demanded that the state government’s
priority should be
to instill a sense of security to the people, restore
peace and harmony and
provide relief and rehabilitation to the affected people.
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