Print Email to Friend| From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 9, Issue 31, Dated 04 Aug 2012

CURRENT AFFAIRS   ASSAM

The Butchers of Kokrajhar

Tensions between Bodos and Muslim settlers have been simmering for long. So why had the government learnt no lessons? Ratnadip Choudhury reports

Photos: UB Photos

BISHESWAR BORO, 82, is desperate to visit his ancestral village Odlaguri in Gossaigaon, a 30-minute drive from Kokrajhar town, where he stays with his daughter. But he cannot step out of his house because an indefinite curfew has been clamped on Kokrajhar district ever since communal clashes erupted, leaving at least 40 people dead.

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“I heard on television that my village is up in flames,” he says with tears in his eyes. “I don’t know where my neighbours have gone. Since I was staying alone (in the village), my daughter brought me here a few months ago, thus I’m safe. For how long can this cycle of violence continue?”

Populated by an odd mix of Bodos, Nepalis, Koch Rajbonghis, Adivasis, Bengali Hindus and Muslim settlers, many of whom are alleged to have illegally migrated from Bangladesh, Lower Assam has witnessed ethnic and religious clashes over the years.. The main grouse of the Bodos has been the continuing influx of illegal immigrants, which has skewed the demographics, and the resultant conflict over land ownership. The latest bout of violence began on 19 July after two Muslim leaders were attacked by suspected Bodo rebels. It sparked tit-for-tat attacks in which at least 100 villages were reduced to cinder.

“On 19 July, Ratul Ahmed and Abdul Siddique Sheikh were attacked by miscreants in Kokrajhar. In the past three years, there have been many such attacks on leaders from other communities, not just Muslims. Other communities living in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) areas for generations are also feeling threatened,” says All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) President Abdul Rahim Ahmed.

The needle of suspicion fell on former Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) rebels. On the night of 20 July, four surrendered BLT rebels were lynched by a mob. Even since, the cycle of violence has continued despite shoot-at-sight orders and imposition of an indefinite curfew in the region.

After the recent floods and the Guwahati molestation case, the Tarun Gogoi government has once again been caught napping. More than 30,000 passengers remained stranded at railway stations between New Jaipaiguri in West Bengal and New Bongaigaon in Assam. Finally, the trains moved after 72 hours, but the link has opened only partially. All this while Gogoi looked like a clueless leader desperate for the Centre to bail him out.

At the time of going to press, the state government estimates that 40 people have died, 21 are missing, at least 80,000 are in relief camps and nearly 2 lakh people affected. But unofficial sources claim that the toll could be much higher.

On 25 July, 1,300 army personnel moved into the affected districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri and staged flag marches. But the heavy security presence hasn’t stopped people from fleeing for safety. While thousands of Muslims fled towards Dhubri and West Bengal from Kokrajhar and Chirang districts fearing a backlash from Bodos, the tribals living in Dhubri and Bongaigaon are making a beeline for relief camps set up in Kokrajhar. But these camps lack basic facilities, even doctors are not seen visiting, complained locals.

IN THE past six decades, the Bodo-dominated areas of Lower Assam have seen plenty of bloodshed, with the bulk of the violence happening in Kokrajhar. The Bodos are the largest tribal community in the state with just over five percent of the total population of 31 million. Buoyed by the influx of illegal immigrants, Muslim settlers now make up 33 percent.

Dance of death The latest cycle of violence spared no one as tit-for-tat attacks left 40 people dead in Bodo areas

The plains of Lower Assam where the Bodos live stretches up to the Dooars area of North Bengal. The first clashes between Bodos and Muslims were recorded in 1952 when the latter tried to settle down in Bodo areas. In 1991-94, there were a series of clashes, forcing the Muslims to retreat.

Despite being the largest tribal community in Assam, Bodos encountered neglect and apathy from successive state governments. Led by Upendranath Brahma of the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), the tribals launched a movement for a separate Bodoland in 1987. It was a violent agitation in which Bodos resorted to attacks on government properties, blocking the national highway and rail link. The government also retaliated with force. In 1993, the Bodos settled for autonomy and the Bodo Autonomous Council (BAC) was formed.

However, some sections of the community were unhappy with the solution and hundreds of youths went underground and took up arms to fight for sovereignty. The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and BLT soon went on the rampage.

Left in the lurch Villagers leave their homes after ethnic clashes in Kokrajhar Photo: AFP

In 2003, the BLT gave up fighting and joined the mainstream after a tripartite accord paved the way for the formation of the BTC. The BLT transformed itself into the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), a political outfit led by Hagrama Mohilary. The BPF took control of the BTC and became the primary political voice of the Bodos. Even though they allied with the ruling Congress, the Bodos’ fortunes haven’t changed much. So much so that the ABSU renewed its call for a separate Bodoland in 2010.

“We have seen two autonomous bodies but both have failed to fulfil the aspirations of the Bodos and protect their rights,” says ABSU president Pramod Boro. “Bodos are becoming homeless in their own heartland. Nothing can be more painful than this. There is no security. Kokrajhar is burning, but the state government has failed to maintain communal harmony.”

The political situation in Assam and Bodo areas has changed from what it was in the 1980s when the ABSU launched the statehood movement. While most of the NDFB cadres are in designated camps awaiting the result of the peace talks with the Centre, its leadership says it cannot compromise on the demand for a separate state.

Ranjan Daimary, the leader of the NDFB’s anti-talk faction, is awaiting his release from the Guwahati Central Jail, while his cadres still launch random attacks.

Even though the BPF and Mohilary are controlling the BTC, their image has been severely dented by corruption charges. “The Assam government does not bother about Bodo areas. They have left it for Hagrama and his men to plunder,” says Ranjan Basumatary, a youth from Kokrajhar. “Hagrama is more concerned about power. He is just paying lip service to Bodo aspirations. Gogoi is happy with having him as an ally and Hagrama is behaving like Congress’ sub-contractor in Bodoland.”

Despite the BTC’s formation, the Bodo areas have seen less of development and more of fratricidal killings. Former BLT cadres have turned into politicians, traders and contractors, and have used their guns to eliminate rivals. Whether the NDFB or the surrendered BLT rebels, almost everyone has illegal firearms. Some of them even run extortion rackets. As a result, a feeling of lawlessness prevails in the Bodo areas.

Adding fuel to the fire of the longstanding issue of land encroachment that has sparked clashes between the Bodos and Muslims, the rebels have also been extorting money on this pretext. Chirang, a district where the NDFB and BLT are fighting for supremacy, has seen Muslims settling in large numbers for the past five years, turning it into yet another trouble hotspot.

“The common Bodos are feeling insecure. Gun-toting men roam about freely. They are not only Bodo rebels, even goons from other communities have joined the league,” says a Bodo woman, who is nursing her injuries at a Kokrajhar hospital.

Intelligence sources of the state police confirmed to TEHELKA that most of the Muslims who died have been shot by automatic rifles and pistols used by NDFB.

Interestingly, BPF’s Mohilary seconds that opinion. “A lot of Bodos feel that NDFB rebels are responsible for sparking the latest round of tensions with Muslims,” he told the media. “The need of the hour is calm. Muslims are our brothers and the killings should stop. The state has not been able to reach many affected areas.”

For the past six months, the non-Bodo communities living in the region have turned vocal on “harassment”. They have even formed a Non-Bodo Suraksha Samiti (NBSS), which has launched a public movement to fight against the discrimination and harassment of non-Bodos.

The apex organisation of the Koch Rajbongshis, Nepalis and even Bengali Hindu organisations have lent support to the NBSS, which is primarily led by Muslim student leaders. Although they haven’t said ‘no’ to the Bodoland demand, their plea is to ensure the rights of non-Bodos.

THE MEDIA claims that there’s a political hand at play behind the non-Bodo upsurge. A factor that even CM Gogoi does not rule out. “We had a shortage of forces but the Centre has decided to provide extra forces. We assume that things will become normal within a week but I cannot rule out a political conspiracy behind this situation. I have dealt with similar situations before and I will restore order soon,” he said.

But Gogoi administration seems to have learnt no lessons from the 2008 Udalguri clashes between the Bodos and the Muslim settlers, in which at least 54 people were killed. The Justice PC Phukan Commission, which was formed to probe the riots, slammed the police and its lack of ground intelligence to avert the violence. It also found that the Muslim Students’ Union of Assam was guilty of triggering the clashes since it forcefully tried to impose a bandh in Udalguri and Darrang districts.

As Bodoland burns, in Kokrajhar, Bisheswar Boro is a heartbroken man. “In my life, I have seen only violence, death and distrust,” he says. “Without communal harmony, Bodoland will not develop and we cannot achieve a separate state unless we are able to unite all minds.”

The octogenarian’s frustration mirrors the fate of Bodoland’s fractured politics as the people brave yet another spell of violence in a bid to attain statehood.

Ratnadip Choudhury is a Principal Correspondent with Tehelka.
ratnadip@tehelka.com