Public Meeting cum Peace Vigil against Ongoing Ethnic Violence in Assam
Arts Faculty Gate, North Campus, Delhi University Friday July 27, 2:00pm until 4:00pm
We the people from various parts of northeast residing in Delhi, along with concerned individuals, university members, civil and human rights organisations from Delhi, have taken serious note of the on-going ethnic conflict that has erupted in four districts (Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Chirang and Bongaigaon) of Lower Assam.
In last one week we have witnessed the tragedy of nearly 200,000 people belonging to the Bodo and the Muslim communities, being forced to flee from their homes and villages, internally displaced, scarred and traumatized. Official figures tell that around 40 people have lost their lives, while unofficial estimates from the grounds are much higher. More than 400 villages have been torched down. This has been one of the most widespread and alarming conflicts in the recent history of Assam. Also this is not the first time that such kind of ethnic conflict has occurred in this area. Various ethnic groups inhabiting the area, like the Koch Rajbongshis, Santhalis, Oraons, Mundas, Bodos, religious minority community (Muslims), ethnic Assamese etc., have time to time been engulfed in cross-ethnic tensions and conflicts. We are also aware that abductions, extortions and sporadic killings (for both personal business rivalries and political gains) have been infesting the concerned area for a decade now.
The eruption of this conflict is not an abrupt or ‘spontaneous’ one. Tensions between the two communities have been brewing for sometime now, primarily over the questions of access to the limited resources available in this area. One also cannot rule out communal tensions that has existed between the different communities inhabiting this area.
We understand that both the Assam Government and Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) administration were very much in the know of the shimmering tensions between the two communities. But the authorities turned a blind eye to the gravity of the situation. The authorities allowed the tension to escalate to such an extent which resulted in a massive spree of arson, violence and killings. This ongoing conflict has resulted in irreparable damages. While lives and properties have been lost, it has created a deep chasm of suspicion, mistrust and fear amongst the people inhabiting the four districts, especially amongst the Bodos and the Muslims. There is a high possibility that this endemic of suspicion, mistrust and fear will define the inter-ethnic relations among all the communities inhabiting this area and beyond as well.
Both the Bodos and the Muslim population of this area have historically been at the margins of the ‘Assamese society’. However in a very convenient manner the mainstream Assamese society at large and a section of the Assamese media as well as the national media have been portraying this conflict as a clash between the Bodos and the ‘illegal’ Muslim immigrants, that is, Bangladeshis who need to be sent back to where they come from. We are aware that there are ‘illegal’ Bangladeshi immigrants residing in these four districts like any other parts of the north east, but to label the undifferentiated masses of Muslim population inhabiting this areas as ‘illegal’ Bangladeshi immigrants amounts to a travesty of history and injustice meted out to a whole section of the society. We should be aware that the mainstream Assamese society/media is not concerned about either the Bodos or the Muslims so far as the ‘sanctity’ of their nationhood is protected. Both the Bodos and the ‘illegal’ immigrants are disposable. The easiness with which many groups and the mainstream Assamese society have chosen this clash as an opportune moment to reiterate their longstanding demand of deporting Bangladeshi immigrants is deplorable. It is deplorable because loss of human lives cannot and should not be used to further longstanding political demands of this kind.
The point however is not about who has killed whom and who has killed and destroyed more of the other. The point is that human lives are being lost; it does not matter if it is a Bodo or an ‘illegal’ Bangladeshi immigrant or for that matter anyone else who has been killed or displaced. The point is that killings and violence have to stop, while we may continue engaging with our difference in perspectives.
We demand that:
1) the Assam government and BTC administration should take full responsibility of the loss of lives and livelihood; and rehabilitate all those who have been displaced.
We appeal that:
1) The members of various communities in Assam to play a proactive role in stopping the mayhem in these districts of Lower Assam.
2) The leading organizations of various communities in these four districts to call out for a collective resolution to restore peace and normalcy.
3) The media, both regional and national, abstain from inciting further communitarian animosities.
We the people from various parts of northeast residing in Delhi, along with concerned individuals, university members, civil and human rights organisations from Delhi, have taken serious note of the on-going ethnic conflict that has erupted in four districts (Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Chirang and Bongaigaon) of Lower Assam.
In last one week we have witnessed the tragedy of nearly 200,000 people belonging to the Bodo and the Muslim communities, being forced to flee from their homes and villages, internally displaced, scarred and traumatized. Official figures tell that around 40 people have lost their lives, while unofficial estimates from the grounds are much higher. More than 400 villages have been torched down. This has been one of the most widespread and alarming conflicts in the recent history of Assam. Also this is not the first time that such kind of ethnic conflict has occurred in this area. Various ethnic groups inhabiting the area, like the Koch Rajbongshis, Santhalis, Oraons, Mundas, Bodos, religious minority community (Muslims), ethnic Assamese etc., have time to time been engulfed in cross-ethnic tensions and conflicts. We are also aware that abductions, extortions and sporadic killings (for both personal business rivalries and political gains) have been infesting the concerned area for a decade now.
The eruption of this conflict is not an abrupt or ‘spontaneous’ one. Tensions between the two communities have been brewing for sometime now, primarily over the questions of access to the limited resources available in this area. One also cannot rule out communal tensions that has existed between the different communities inhabiting this area.
We understand that both the Assam Government and Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) administration were very much in the know of the shimmering tensions between the two communities. But the authorities turned a blind eye to the gravity of the situation. The authorities allowed the tension to escalate to such an extent which resulted in a massive spree of arson, violence and killings. This ongoing conflict has resulted in irreparable damages. While lives and properties have been lost, it has created a deep chasm of suspicion, mistrust and fear amongst the people inhabiting the four districts, especially amongst the Bodos and the Muslims. There is a high possibility that this endemic of suspicion, mistrust and fear will define the inter-ethnic relations among all the communities inhabiting this area and beyond as well.
Both the Bodos and the Muslim population of this area have historically been at the margins of the ‘Assamese society’. However in a very convenient manner the mainstream Assamese society at large and a section of the Assamese media as well as the national media have been portraying this conflict as a clash between the Bodos and the ‘illegal’ Muslim immigrants, that is, Bangladeshis who need to be sent back to where they come from. We are aware that there are ‘illegal’ Bangladeshi immigrants residing in these four districts like any other parts of the north east, but to label the undifferentiated masses of Muslim population inhabiting this areas as ‘illegal’ Bangladeshi immigrants amounts to a travesty of history and injustice meted out to a whole section of the society. We should be aware that the mainstream Assamese society/media is not concerned about either the Bodos or the Muslims so far as the ‘sanctity’ of their nationhood is protected. Both the Bodos and the ‘illegal’ immigrants are disposable. The easiness with which many groups and the mainstream Assamese society have chosen this clash as an opportune moment to reiterate their longstanding demand of deporting Bangladeshi immigrants is deplorable. It is deplorable because loss of human lives cannot and should not be used to further longstanding political demands of this kind.
The point however is not about who has killed whom and who has killed and destroyed more of the other. The point is that human lives are being lost; it does not matter if it is a Bodo or an ‘illegal’ Bangladeshi immigrant or for that matter anyone else who has been killed or displaced. The point is that killings and violence have to stop, while we may continue engaging with our difference in perspectives.
We demand that:
1) the Assam government and BTC administration should take full responsibility of the loss of lives and livelihood; and rehabilitate all those who have been displaced.
We appeal that:
1) The members of various communities in Assam to play a proactive role in stopping the mayhem in these districts of Lower Assam.
2) The leading organizations of various communities in these four districts to call out for a collective resolution to restore peace and normalcy.
3) The media, both regional and national, abstain from inciting further communitarian animosities.
