Stern action, not words, will end Assam violence
Every time there is bloodshed in Assam or in the surrounding areas of the North-East, we are subjected to a lecture on the history of ethnic conflict in the region. We are told about sectarian strife and long-festering communal hostilities; about demands for separate homelands, the lack of development in the region; and even about the devastating impact of changing demographics on indigenous lifestyles.
Finally, we also hear about immediate administrative failures — ignored intelligence reports, ill-prepared law enforcement officials, and inefficient politicians. This time too, the situation has been no different. After Bodo militants went on a killing spree on Tuesday, murdering 51 people in four attacks in the space of an hour and fuelling a vicious cycle of bloodletting that has since raised the death toll to close to 80, the old narratives of ethnic conflict have been regurgitated.
Similarly, reports of state failure have also been recycled. We are told that the Guwahati branch of the Intelligence Bureau had detailed and specific inputs about Tuesday's killings. These inputs, which even included the names of Bodo militant commanders who were planning the attacks, were shared with all law enforcement and paramilitary agencies. local police were, in fact, expecting some level of retaliatory action as they had recently neutralised a few Bodo militants.
However, they now admit that no one was prepared for a backlash on this scale. In short, despite there being adequate warnings and intelligence beforehand, the attacks could not be thwarted — which is exactly why the 2012 violence between Bodo militants and Bengali Muslims in Assam had spiralled out of control, claimed 77 lives and displaced 4,00,000. Clearly, no lessons were learnt.
In both cases, the ineptness and the inefficiency of the State Government have been a major factor. In 2012, Chief Minster Tarun Gogoi had sought to pass the blame to the Union Government when he had cribbed that New Delhi had not responded promptly enough to his requests for military support. This time he has been caught sleeping at the wheels again. His top bureaucrat had continued with his family vacation while the State police chief couldn't even be bothered to tour the affected areas.
Also, Assam has been on the edge for years now and Mr Gogoi, who has been in power since 2001, has failed to bring about any kind of reconciliation or peace between the warring factions. Additionally, the nexus between politicians and militant groups has made matters worse.
This latest round of bloodshed in Assam must be reason enough to replace the outdated ‘ethnic conflict’ label with the one of ‘terrorism’. The term ‘ethnic conflict' puts both parties on an equal footing. This is not the case in Assam, where militants ruthlessly attack innocents to secure their political interests.
This is a classic case of terrorism, and it is imperative that the authorities treat it as such, even if it means an expanded role for the Union Government in the matter. Union Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh's tough talk against the Bodo militant group responsible for Tuesday's attacks and his decision to hand over the case to the National Investigation Agency is, therefore, welcome.