Sunday, August 5, 2012

Assam Violence- Minority Perspective




The summer of 2012 has been very inauspicious for the state of Assam which is known for its diverse and vibrant culture especially gender equality and religious tolerance. This summer Assam has witnessed massive flood which took away many lives and livestock and left many houses damaged, little known to the outside world. However, the Guwahati molestation case, where a reporter of a regional news channel allegedly instigated a group of men to molest an underage girl and filmed it, shocked one and all. The topic remained hotly debated and pursued on national media, which otherwise ignores the North East, till two ethnic groups in western Assam  - Bodos and Bengali Muslims started burning each others’ houses.

 The Bodos are an ethnic and linguistic community, who were one of the early inhabitants of Assam. They are part of the larger ethnic group called Bodo-kachari and are mainly settled in the north western part of Assam which is presently divided into four districts viz. Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Odalguri. They continued to live their pristine tribal way of life disconnected from the world which, fortunately or unfortunately, progressed materialistically giving rise to complex societies and way of life.
 In late 19th century and early 20th century, under British India, Muslims from East Bengal started to settle down in Western Assam. The main reason behind this large scale migration was the exploiting zamindars who stripped off the peasants from their land by various tricks. The fertile land of Assam which was mostly unoccupied became the perfect alternative for these peasants. They came, cleared the forests and claimed their land. For the British government, it meant more revenues. By the middle of the last century when India was being torn apart on religious lines, the western part of Assam was so overwhelmingly Muslim populated that the Muslim League asked for many of its districts to be part of East Pakistan. However, Pakistan was created with only one of district of Assam called Sylhet while the rest remained in Assam, so are its Muslims, majority of whom didn’t migrate back to the newly created country for Muslims.
 But Muslims had to pay price for the decision to stay back in Assam. In early 60s, there was a movement in Assam over language. Assamese speakers are less than 50% in the state which meant it couldn’t automatically become the official language of the state. And the reason for this was the presence of Bengali speaking people. But a sacrifice was made – Bengali Muslims of Western Assam would declare their mother tongue as Assamese which would make Assamese as the majority language in the state which became the medium of education for next generations to come. Though they would speak Bengali at home, they would read or write in Assamese creating a dual identity but never to be really considered an Assamese.
Almost a decade later, East Pakistan sought to be a separate country from West Pakistan over language. The Pakistan army indulged in all kind of cruelty which compelled mass exodus to India – West Bengal in the west and Assam in the east. The presence of Bengali Muslim population in Assam was never accepted wholeheartedly by the majority of Assamese Hindu population. And this sudden swelling of population was certainly not acceptable to them. After Bangladesh was created the refugees went back to their land but it was suspected that a lot of people have stayed back. In late 70s and early 80s, Assam was under agitation to expel the illegal immigrants to Bangladesh. There was deep anxiety among Assamese Hindus that increasing Muslims would eventually make them a minority in their own land.  The agitation turned violent in many places specially the Nellie Massacre where more than 2000 Bengali Muslims were killed in one day in Morigaon district. The agitation came to end with the signing of Assam Accord in 1985 which set 1971 as the deadline for immigrants to settle in Assam meaning migrants who settled before 1971 would be considered citizen of India while after that would be considered illegal and deported back to Bangladesh. The students union which led the agitation came to power after general elections and did hardly anything concrete to expel the ‘illegal’ immigrants. As between 1983 and 2000, only 1400 illegal immigrants have been identified and been deported to Bangladesh.
Soon after the Assam Accord, the Bodo community had an awakening giving rise to Bodo nationalism. Bodo nationalism was quite necessary among the Bodo people who have been quite innocent in earlier times and victim of lack of interest from the national as well as state government. The other communities have also been insensitive toward their identity. They were easily been fooled by the other communities in business and other worldly affairs. Bodos demanded a separate political entity for themselves which would ensure development of the community. It is to be noted that this region has been witnessing number of communal clashes ever since. Way back in 1994, the ethnic clash between Bodos and Non-Bodos made thousand homeless who are still living in relief camps. Thousands of Santhalis, Bengali Muslims, Bengali Hindus, Assamese Hindus were affected. Strange but true- even after almost two decades, there are thousands of people still living in refugee camps away from basic amenities like healthcare, education etc. It then witnessed similar episodes in ’96 & 2008.
In 2003, autonomy was given to Bodos with the formation of Bodoland Territorial Administered District (BTAD) to be administered by the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council with the districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Odalguri. Bodoland has been a very vulnerable area since the rise of Bodo nationalism and after the inception of BTAD. As time passed and as it happens with most armed revolutions, Bodo nationalism was losing its good spirit. Gun culture, kidnapping, extortions were becoming commoner. There was ideological divide which led to formation of two armed insurgent faction namely Bodoland Liberation Tiger (BLT) & National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). The formation of BTAD led the BLT leaders into power while the NDFB was still running in jungles and was further dividing into factions. Incidents such as kidnapping, extortion, and killing were common happenings in the BTAD. Even the people of adjoining districts were also suffering. It is an open secret that the people of BTAD have to give away a certain amount of their earnings to these extremist outfits. And the horrible thing is that even a school teacher or one small shop owner is not spared. It was so evident that in 2011, all the doctors had left Bodoland protesting the ransom culture imposed on them.
The leaders who came into power have been doing nothing for the commoner. The progress and development is only visible when one looks into the brand new SUV or the car showrooms owned by these leaders or their relatives. These leaders have always been exploiting the separatist ideology inserted into the minds of the commoners in Bodoland and want the issue to be continued with hints that they indeed want a separate state for Bodos. The Bodo population is still far away from the basic amenities. Every now and then they make into news for malpractices, witch-hunting etc. The common people whether Bodos or non-Bodos, has virtually gained nothing from the autonomy. Although infrastructural development has happened in Bodoland as with other part of Assam, many aspirations of common Bodos still remain unfulfilled.
 The division of Bodoland was done callously as many non Bodo majority villages were included in it. The non-Bodo population of this area has always been accusing the autonomous council, which consists mainly of Bodo people, to be favouring the Bodo population. The non-Bodo population mainly consists of Bengali Muslims, Bengali Hindus, Koch-Rajbongshis, Assamese Hindus, Santhalis, North-Indian etc.The All Bodoland Minority Students Union (ABMSU) which is mainly comprised of the Bengali Muslims and few numbers of Bengali Hindus and others has been demanding their rights. They claim that they are not being inducted in the government jobs in these autonomous districts according to the proportion of their population. Amongst all their demands one was to exclude the non-Bodo majority villages form the autonomous council.
A series of strikes led by ABMSU & Obodo Suraksha Samiti demanding the exclusion of non-Bodo majority villages from the Bodoland was the main reason for tension in last few months. The situation was turning hostile every day. The situation took communal colour when four ex-BLT cadres were beaten to death in a Muslim village which was in retaliation to the shooting of two ABMSU leaders. Soon the entire zone came into conflict. People from both the communities are being killed. Houses of both are being burnt. People are being gunned down, burnt alive; neonates are being cut into pieces. There is complete lawlessness in the region. More than 50 people have been reportedly dead (the actual figure could be much higher) and almost 2 Lakh people have been displaced from their houses.The state government could not sense the tension brewing. By the time the government could react the situation was almost out of control.
 Bandh culture is a very common phenomenon in Assam. If one community calls for 100 hours bandh another will call for 1000 hour. Another prominent community present in Bodoland is the Koch-Rajbongshi. They are also demanding for a separate Kamatapur. Ironically, the proposed Kamatapur coincides with the present BTAD in many areas. They are known for calling marathon bandhs which once lasted for 1000 hour! The Darwin’s principle has become quite a reality in Bodoland. It is all about survival of the fittest i. All the communities are in a do or die situation. Peaceful coexistence is not an option. The communities are in constant fear of ethnic cleansing.
The mainstream Assamese population was also late in reacting. It may be because either of the groups was not a matter of concern to them. One group is constantly trying to get separate statehood while other group is seen as ‘illegal immigrants’.
 Even if we assume that there are indeed illegal immigrants in Assam in huge numbers, the majority of Bengali Muslims are still Indian citizens. However the entire community is branded as Bangladeshis. Their main occupation i.e. small-scale agriculture, illiteracy, poverty, uncontrolled birth rate, typical look and a suspicion of being illegal migrant has made them victims of racism. Moreover, the politicization of the ‘illegal immigrant issue’ (beard-skull capwalas are the illegal migrants) and lack of government interest in solving the issue it have affected the Bengali Muslim population severely.
  Whenever any issue regarding Bengali Muslims are taken up, the illegal immigration part always comes up and the media reinforces the popular perception without seriously investigating it. The Bengali Muslims want Assam to be illegal immigrant free as much any other. But there is genuine fear that in the name of it, actual citizens would be harassed as the non-Muslim sentiments are mostly hostile regarding this issue. But government should take genuine steps to stop cross border infiltration by sealing the porous border and identify and deport the illegal migrants. When that happens the general population must wholeheartedly accept the Bengali Muslims as part of the greater Assamese society, treat them with respect and dignity they deserve and provide equal opportunities. In an ethnic diverse society like Assam, communal harmony is the key to its peaceful existence
 The government has been able to contain the violence in Western Assam as of now. But many concrete measures are required. The government must take away all the illegal guns form the BTAD. Had the central government been serious in 2003 about taking away all the weapons from the surrendering cadre and had the land allocation into the BTAD area been done according the norms then the present day scenario probably would not have arisen. Investigations into the riots must be done with central agencies and culprits should be brought to book to warn those who believe rioters could get away with anything.
 However we know the present peace is very fragile. The state machinery should make concerted efforts to address issues of all communities justly to consolidate it.

By Dr Shamim Ahmed and Baharul Islam. Dr Ahmed has just graduated from Guwahati Medical College and waiting for his turn to serve in rural Assam, a govt initiative to improve rural healthcare. Mr Islam graduated from Delhi University and is an executive in an MNC in Mumbai.

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