Peace seems to be still elusive in poll-bound Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD) of Assam, which witnessed the worst-ever violence about two years back killing over 100 civilians and displacing over four lakh people.
The four districts of BTAD and its surrounding areas, which fall under the Kokrajhar lok Sabha constituency in Western Assam are going to poll on April 24 as part of the third phase polling in Assam.However, a majority of the locals — including the victims of 2012 riots — seemed rather confused about their future in the Bodo heartland.
“We have lost everything during the 2012 riots. Our houses and belongings were set ablaze and we escaped to save our lives,” said Rafiq Ali, a native of Nower Bhita village under Dotma police station, located only 40 kms away from Kokrajhar town.
There used to be 490 families in the village, which are now reduced to only 220.While some of the families — which were shifted to other places during the violence — have returned to the village, others have left their homeland fearing another round of backlash in future.The people of Nower Bhita and adjoining villages have fallen victim to month-long clashes between the Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslim settlers in the BTAD which rocked the entire State in 2012.
“The violence took place in June 2012 and we returned in November last year when the State Government assured us full protection,” Ali said while adding that although there were security pickets near our village initially but they were withdrawn about four months back.
“The State Government promised compensation to the tune of `5 lakh for each family but only a few families have relieved less than `60,000 so far,” he said.Another resident of Tetliguri village, located 20 kms of the Kokrajhar town, Sukna Basumatary also witnessed devastation due to retaliatory attacks during the violence but they are yet to receive the compensation for their loss.
“Many have come to us seeking votes. I don’t know whom to vote for now but I cannot refuse to vote either. We can’t even complain to the authorities as they have failed in protecting us,” said another resident of Nower Bhita on condition of anonymity while adding that the Dotoma police station, which is located only half-a-kilometre away from the village, has failed to secure the village from the rioters during 2012. “I cannot trust anyone here. The police, administration, leaders are all hand-in-gloves,” he said.
The statement assumes significance as there have been allegations of large-scale rigging during polls in the BTAD along with free flow of money and muscle power. However, the situation is far from being normal in the BTAD in Assam.While there have been no major incidents of violence so far, many locals — particularly the non-Bodos — fail to feel safe in the land where they have been living for decades.
The gun culture adopted by the former rebels, who are in power in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) that runs the administration in the BTAD have made the future of locals rather unsettling.Nazimuddin Siddique, a doctoral research scholar at Gauhati University who is doing a research on Bodoland riots, rued that non-Bodos are still the second-class citizens in Bodoland.
“Non-Bodos living there are really scared. Two weeks back there was an incident and it was enough to prompt a group to leave their village, this shows the kind of fear the people are living under,” he said adding that the non-Bodos in Bodoland are voiceless.It may be mentioned here that Kokrajhar, which is the corridor to Northeast India, has had a history of riots, each leaving its imprints in the minds of people residing in area.
There have been a series of clashes between the Bodos and the Adivasis during 1996 to 1998. Bodos and Muslim minorities have clashed in 1953, 1993 and 1994 too.However, the riots between the Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslim settlers of 2012 is often termed as one of the worst due to its magnanimity.The 2012 riots also engulfed different places of India that led to counter or reverse exodus of Northeastern people in different States of India.
What magnified the ethnic conflagration into a full-blown national problem was the bulk SMSes and promotion through social media which triggered the largest exodus of mankind in post-Independence era.