It is exactly a month since violence broke out between Bodos and Muslims. The killing goes on. Two labourers were killed and one seriously injured in lower Assam a couple of days ago. The death toll now reaches 80. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has begun a confidence building initiative and sought civil support to bring the state back to normal. It will take some time for the mistrust to be wiped out and for the relief camp inmates to be sent back to their villages. But civil society can play a very effective role in removing fear and mistrust. Gogoi has parleyed with representatives of various communities. He said that most people who had left Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and other states following threat SMSes were also willing to return home to their lucrative jobs. Assam’s leading MLAs and officials are keeping in touch with them. Gogoi allayed fears that suspected Bangladeshi infiltrators would be rehabilitated during the reconstruction process. Joint patrolling by Bodos and Muslims in the villages has started.
Civil society representatives asked the government to seize all illegal arms which were in the hands of various groups. Former Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had admitted that arms dumps existed in the region. Continuous ethnic violence will open a Pandora’s box in Assam. It will escalate violent activities of the militants. Talks with pro-peace ULFA leaders have had to be put on hold. What is more, Pakistan is exploiting the Assam carnage to inflame anti-India hatred through doctored tapes.