Bodoland violence: FROM CRISIS TO OPPORTUNITY by Jamal Kidwai
The movement took a militant turn with the emergence of the United Liberation Front of Asom, which believed in armed confrontation to liberate Assam not only from the Bangladeshis but also from India. Insurgency soon became a profitable industry, with extortion, kidnappings and the sale of illegal arms being justified in the name of an independence movement. Several armed groups emerged in Bodoland. Like Ulfa, these too indulged in violence and other crimes in the name of identity and self-rule. They carried out the massacres in the 1990s. The most active among them was called the Bodo Liberation Tigers.
The widespread violence in Bodoland that began more than 10 days ago has, until now, left more than 50 people dead and created a massive displacement of over 2.5 lakh people. Such violence has occurred several times in the past, but what is most disturbing this time is the huge number of refugees requiring housing and civic amenities in refugee camps. More important, the result of this conflict is ghettoization, the transfer of the population on communal lines. Fearing more attacks and looking for shelter, the Bodos are moving towards the Bodo- majority district of Kokrajhar and the Muslims are heading towards the Dhubri district, where they are considered a majority. The conflict has raised several very complex issues. Both the government and civil society groups need to formulate these concerns with clarity, for it is only then that long-term answers will be found to make Bodoland secure and peaceful for all ethnicities and communities living in the region.
The history of violence can be traced back to the Bodoland movement of 1987. Some groups of the movement took up arms and went underground. Initially, the group indulged in localized violence against those who spoke Assamese, who were considered outsiders. It was only in 1993 that the first big massacre happened in the districts of Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon, where 50 people were killed, accused of being Muslims from Bangladesh. Soon after, in 1994, another 100 migrant Muslims were killed, and many of those displaced then are still living in camps. The most brutal conflict happened in 1996. This time the Santhals were the target. This violence killed over 200 people and led to a displacement of thousands of Santhals, many of whom are still living in camps. Subsequently, in 2008, there was a riot between the Muslims and Bodo tribals in Udalguri district which left over 100 people dead.
According to the Asian Centre for Human Rights, more than 47,000 people displaced by Bodo-Muslim and Bodo-Santhal violence in the 1990s were staying in camps in the Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Chirang districts of Assam in November 2009. Also, almost 1,25,000 people displaced by Bodo-Muslim violence in 2008 were staying in camps in Darrang and Udalguri districts. Before Independence, the British recruited and settled large numbers of Santhals in Bodoland from the Chotanagpur areas of present-day Jharkhand. They were brought to work on tea plantations and were given small pieces of land to build their houses. This was followed by an influx of Bengali-speaking Muslims who settled there and bought small pieces of land to practise agriculture... Read more:
