Communal divide widening in Assam
By Barun Das Gupta
The flames of ethnic riot that engulfed several districts in southern Assam in the last two months are getting doused but the fire is still smouldering. Reports of stray incidents continue to come in, the climate of fear persists, while the minds of Bengali-speaking Muslims who had to bear the main brunt of the ethnic violence last month are filled with fresh apprehensions about the future as rumour-mongers are having a field day. Unlike in the past, this time the Muslims tried to resist and beat back the attackers wherever possible.
‘Unknown’ people spread the rumour that the Muslims are ‘planning to do something terrible’ after the Eid. Speaking to this from the riot-affected Dhubri district, Giasuddin Ahmed, CPI leader and former Deputy Speaker of the Assam Assembly, confirmed that such rumours were, indeed, being spread by unknown people. The rumour had created fear among the Hindus living in Muslim areas. Some Hindu families have sent their womenfolk elsewhere. Ahmed suspects that the rumour has been deliberately spread to whip up anti-Muslim feelings. To counter this rumour, an all-party meeting was held at Dhubri town. All the leaders issued a joint appeal for peace and harmony. They then met the Deputy Commissioner of Dhubri district who assured them all cooperation. On the Eid day, the Imam of Dhubri held a prayer meeting which was attended by a congregation of about ten thousand people. The Imam appealed for peace and reminded his audience that Islam does not teach or preach attacking non-Muslims. Ahmed also said that the commandant of the local BSF unit had corroborated that no outsider from anywhere, not to speak of Bangladesh, had come to create trouble. According to official figures, around four lakh people had been rendered homeless in the recent riots and taken shelter in relief camps. Most of them are Muslims. Ahmed said it was necessary that the Government made arrangements for their quick return to their respective villages and helped in their rehabilitation. If the evicted people continued to stay in relief camps, there was a likelihood of a conflict between them and the local people. The situation has been complicated by the fact that the administration is pro-Bodo. The National Democratic Front of Bodoland has already warned the non-Bodos in relief camps not to enter the Bodo areas again.
On the other hand, there is a propaganda that a sinister conspiracy has been hatched to get Assam flooded by Bangladeshis with a view to Assam’s annexation by Bangladesh. The anti-Muslim or anti-Bangladeshi (both are synonymous in Assam) propaganda readily appeals to the Assamese-speaking people. It may be remembered that the Brahmaputra Valley had witnessed a six year long ‘anti-foreigner movement’ in Assam from 1979 to 1985. The movement ended after the Assam Accord was signed by the leaders of the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1985. About the origin and spread of the riots, Urkhao Gwra Brahma, a former member of the Rajya Sabha and leader of the Bodo People’s Progressive Front or BPPF (which is in opposition to the Bodo People’s Front or BPF, the ruling party in the Bodoland Territorial Council), squarely blamed the State Government for its ‘inaction’ during the initial days. He maintains that the Government and the district administration during the period from July 6, when the first incident happened, to July 21, when violence broke out in a big way did nothing.
He alleges that some people of the minority community burnt a Bodo village named Paraugura on July 21. This ignited the fuse. “It was a big intelligence failure”, he said, “because from July 6 to 21, clear indications were coming that a trouble was brewing, but the government did nothing. It was quite possible to avoid the bloodshed had not the Government watched silently and allowed the situation to drift.” Urkhao Gwra said it would be wrong to ‘mix’ the recent violence with the infiltration problem. Yes, infiltrators are there and have been there for long. But at the moment there is no ‘anti-Bangladeshi’ movement going on in Kokrajhar. There is a conflict of interest between the Bodos and the Bengali Muslims over land. The Muslims are a powerful community and the Bodos are getting marginalized. Also, there are ‘organized and unorganized’ armed groups in all the communities in the BTC area. They fight for control over ‘local resources’. Their ‘fund collection’ drives often lead to clashes. Elements among both the Bodos and the Muslims try to create trouble. But there is no ‘ethnic cleansing’ by the Bodos as is being alleged. To restore peace, a ‘strong intervention’ by the Government is necessary. The security forces are there in strength but they appear to be at a loss to know as to what to do. As the law and order is the responsibility of the Government, both Central and State, the BTC has no role in maintaining peace.
Meanwhile, cases of targeting Muslims are coming in. At Belakoba station in North Bengal, a group of miscreants entered compartments of a special train bringing north-eastern people from Bengaluru to Guwahati and started ‘checking the papers` of the passengers. Those found to be Muslims were thrown out. Six bodies were picked up from different places. Several were injured. The victims belonged to the Bengali-speaking Hailakandi district of Barak Valley. As the news reached there, tension gripped the Hailakandi town. The political or organizational identity of the miscreants is still unknown. A well-informed source at Guwahati said rumours were being spread by communal elements on both sides of the religious divide. Tendentious and provocative ‘messages’ were being sent through mobile phones and e-mail. At Rangiya, a railway township about 50 kms from Guwahati, a vehicle carrying some Muslims was stopped, the passengers were made to alight and the bus was set on fire. The driver of the vehicle, an Assamese Muslim, fled in panic and has not been traced since. Next day, there was some violence at Rangiya but it was contained in no time. Incidents of this type continue to happen. Not all of them are reported either.
Urkhao Gwra has confirmed that there is no cause-and-effect relation between infiltration and the recent violence. He pointed out that even now, except in Kokrajhar, the Bodos and the Muslims were living side by side, peacefully. Therefore, the cause of the violence has to be sought elsewhere – in politics. The Bodos want to drive out the Bengali Muslims from the BTC area. The BJP brands all the Bengali-speaking Muslims as ‘Bangladeshi’ and demands they be driven out. The Assamese-speaking people are not fond of the Bengali Muslims either.
Each group knows that the Bengali Muslims whom they call Bangladeshis can never be sent back to Bangladesh. Bangladesh will not accept them because they are Indian citizens. On their part, the Bengali Muslims will never allow them to be driven back. During the height of the Assam agitation (1979-85) many Bengali Muslim families were arbitrarily branded as foreigners or Bangladeshis and pushed across the borders into Bangladesh. They returned in no time, crossing the porous border at some other point. Some of them found that their lands and houses had been occupied by ‘local’ people. The so-called ‘driving out’ exercise could have been dismissed as a big joke except for the great hardship that the poor families suffered and the loss of their movable and immovable property. That certainly was not a joke.
The so-called anti-Bangladeshi campaign has a political overtone and should be seen in the context of the coming 2014 parliamentary elections. It is likely therefore that its pitch would be gradually raised as the elections come near. The propaganda will be intensified in other States as well. Both Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) and BJP will convert it into a major political weapon to beat Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Despite all talk of peace restoration, rehabilitation and ensuring security to those living in camps, the bone of contention remains on who are illegal immigrants. (IPA Service)