The Army was called out in Assam on Tuesday after the situation in the violence-torn Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts deteriorated. The rail link between the State and the rest of the country got snapped and miscreants among Bodos and Muslims torched houses in a large number of villages.
In a serious humanitarian crisis, more than 1,70,000 people have taken shelter in 121 relief camps.
Assam Home Secretary G.D. Tripathi told The Hindu that the Defence Ministry had cleared the deployment of the Army in the three districts after the State made the request, as sought by the administration of these districts.
He said the death toll had gone up to 32, including five who were killed in confrontation with the police. Of the 121 relief camps opened in the three districts, 88 were set up in Kokrajhar district.
In another incident, miscreants stoned the Guwahati-bound Rajdhani Express at Srirampur in Kokrajhar district, damaging four coaches. The train was pulled back to New Coochbehar in West Bengal.
The rail link was snapped, what with the escalation of violence and the lack of adequate security along the 54-km stretch between Srirampur and Salakati in Kokrajhar. Thousands of passengers have been stranded at six stations in West Bengal and six others in Kokrajhar district, besides in Guwahati.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi spoke to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and assured him of all assistance from the Centre.
Mr. Gogoi also spoke to Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram; both promised to send more troops to the State, an official release said.
Inspector-General of Police (Bodoland Territorial Area Districts) S.N. Singh said five persons were killed in Kokrajhar, when the police opened fire at those who tried to indulge in violence.
Railway Minster Mukul Roy spoke to Mr. Chidambaram and Mr. Gogoi and requested them to provide adequate security, especially in the “badly affected” stretch between the Srirampur and Salakati stations, so that the trains held up in the region for more than 24 hours could run to their destinations, said a release from the Press Information Bureau. Till 5 p.m. on Tuesday, 26 trains were cancelled and 37 trains regulated.
All-Bodo Students Union president Pramode Boro alleged that though the student body identified 27 vulnerable places and urged the State government to deploy adequate forces, their presence was not visible in most of these places, resulting in people fleeing their homes and miscreants continuing with violence.
Mr. Boro said the ABSU was ready for talks with the All-Assam Minority Students Union and the All-Bodoland Minority Students Union, if a meeting was facilitated by the district administration.
Keywords: Assam ethnic violence, Kokrajhar communal violence, Bodo tribals, Assam minority immigrants, shoot-at-sight orders, Assam curfew
This is not a question of majority or minority religious groups here,instead it is purely one of illegal immigrants. If it was Bihari or Oriya Hindus instead of the Bangladeshi Muslims in this case, would the result be any different? Absolutely not! When the population of an outsider group having a different ethnicity, language or religion begins to rise seemingly without control, it is natural for the locals to feel insecure. On the other hand, it would not be correct to put all the blame on the immigrants either, as the immigration of people is always a natural outcome when they feel deprived of space or resources in their homeland. This has been the reality throughout history. The population density of Bangladesh is notoriously high, and is likely to become even more worse in the future. That said, the issue of repatriation of the immigrants need to be taken up with Bangladesh on an urgent basis now, as Sheikh Hasina government is relatively India-friendly.
What an irresponsible journalism from The Hindu. When will you people get your spines back and call spade a spade?
There is no indication in the entire article which community is the root cause of the violence. Shrouding the facts under the hood of secularism just to pacify a particular community is also not good for the nation. Someone needs to take a stand. You are selectively disappointing The Hindu!!!
This is the political game playing by the politician. Why only bodos and muslim victimize frequently? There are few group of people (so called Assamese )who discloses their irresponsibility blaming muslims. Are all the muslims Bangaladesi?? If yes, what role and responsibility they are playing sinec 30 years?? When some thing happened politically, they awake up from deep sleep and started blaming on muslim. We should respect each other and work on to find out the actual reason behind the crisis. This is very obvious that based on laguage, we can't put everyting on a group of people, as we know people residing in the border area of Bangalesh, West Bengal, Tripura speaks local bengali dialogue, this doesn't mean that they are Bangadeshi. There are many Bengali Hindis who migrated/fled from B'desh to Assam during 1971 war,no one raises voice about them , their intense presence are from Sadia to Dhubri, only muslims become targetd, is it becoz, more illietracy, poveryy etc are with them.
Immigration is a central issue and should be dealt with a fair policy
by central/state government. Current situation is clash of 2
communities borne out of killing of 2 student leader. Its not fair
this point of time to talk of kicking back migrants whom central/state
governments have long been accepting in reality(although for their
petty gain??). I'd say that law and order situation should be improved
and strong measures should have been taken in advance to protect the
lives (be it anyone). Few readers unnecessarily masquerade situations
with communalism/islamophobic using words Gujarat 2002, Modi, etc. I'm
sorry, this news piece was not for Mr. Modi lovers.
Definitely there is a problem. But you can't one fine day ask people to leave. Due to diplomatic relations that India as a country holds, we cannot wipe our hands over the so called "illegal immigrants". Problems arise because the resources are limited and it has to be shared amongst many. what the government needs to do is one tighten security in the border areas as land is limited and two work on methods to increase employment, increase the standard of living, improving educational facilities such that one community does not see the other community getting a leverage. Its high time the government gives a concrete solution and not a quick fix one which will work for the time being.
Now my question to fellow Indians, what should we Assamese do? Should we again bleed like in ‘80s when we resorted to protest marches and peaceful demonstrations? Will all Indians make this their own cause when illegal foreigners are keep on entering to their own country to grab land, money, jobs, create law & order problem, support fundamentalist activates and promote terrorism! Or Indians will only be concerned with problems in Kashmir and ignore those are in North East?
I would like to request THE HINDU kindly report the very cause of this
riot. As we are far away from North East states we really don't have any
idea of what's happening there. If the situation was very tense from last
few fortnight then why the state government has not taken any preventive
action. Please deal the situation in uniform and insane manner.
People who are offended with the fact of calling these people as
immimgrats should reiterate their opninion. I am born and brought up in
Assam. These are immigrants have been given voter cards by authorotites
themselves. What can be expected in a congress ruled state?
Muslims have migrated into Assam even before the great Ahoms who ruled
Assam for 600 years. Muslim migration peaked in early 1900s when the
province of Assam included large portions of what is now Bangladesh. If
these people are still called migrants so should L K Advani, I K Gujral be called the same. It is a ethnic violence between a tribe(Bodo)who are majorly Hindus but have Christians in their population and Muslims who are Bengali. It is not a all out Hindu- Muslim riot which many are trying to portray as.
Actually the point is the Bangladeshi's who made illegal migration to
North-Eastern states was way back in 1970 , and now they are residing
here for almost 2-3 generations. They would obviously fight for their
rights. Vacating all of them and sending the immigrants back is not
possible, It is better the government makes all its efforts for catching
the violence creators and the miscreants and punishing them severely
rather than taking stand in dis-humanitarian grounds.
SAD. Whatever is happening is within the knowledge of Leadership and can be
controlled by them only. it will cease the moment Leadership (political) will start
thinking about the WELFARE and well being of the country/state instead of narrow
political gains (VOTES). GOD give them the strength to overcome their selfish
interests.
Most of the Bengali settlers came in this areas during British Raj.
Majority of towns in this region have Bengali names because original
settlers named them. Bengali alphabets were first introduced by
Bengali Brahmins in this area. During British Raj population in this
region was very thin. So local aboriginals actually welcomed the
settlers. With increase of population, conflicts have started to crop
up. People also forgets that at that time area was a part province of
Bengal. After creation of Bangladesh it is almost impossible to cross
the border because of strict security. Moreover currently economic
condition in Bangladesh is much better than Upper Brahmaputra region(I
have visited both)._
This might be a big news today. But there are many other problems in our eastern parts of india. In those parts there will be "BANDH" al of a sudden. And this wont be for a day or two. It goes on for ten days. Few months before this happened in Maghalaya. And a month before there was "BANDH" in Guwahati also. But we never see those as a major headline anywhere. This is the state of our eastern part where our government has no hold on the activities. And mostly we can see that not many central ministers are willing to visit our eastern states.
In a reply to tahir and Rejaul:
Tahir,what better word is in your mind to describe those who cross the international bangla border and came to assam ... i guess what Hindu is reporting is perfect ...
Rezaul , Are you a government agency to declare so confidnetly that no bangladeshi in assam . then why all these IMDT cancellation, Supreme court verdict to deport all illegal migrant came after 1970 to assam . First try to study ... concrete your knowledge and took part in national level sensitive discussion like this .
The Congress central govt which blamed Modi of communalism, should bow its head in shame for what is happening in Assam.
It is time we open our eyes to the mean political games played by the government which are affecting the people of Assam. Its not about Assamese, Bodo or Muslims, all Indians, it is about sheltering the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. It is a pity that they belong to a certain religion and so the point of focus has now been drastically shifted in an entirely wrong direction.One can be sure that even after such malicious activities take place, the government will never realize the root cause of the problems and till then such issues will raise their heads in the state. It will be far better for the media to expose such form of vote bank politics and take up the responsibilities to show the state and its people in the correct light.
Muslim has given scarifies for their nation in 1830s and many on another places but today in Indian Muslim are in back seat and getting exploited.This is due to negligence approach of Muslim community they fail to develop/create their leadership.Assam is not one many more stories of discrimination, ethnic cleansing and exploitation are registered in Indian history which happened in very near past and this will be on because this is the case study and fact.So,what is the solution, solution Intellectualism could be only deterrence. This community has to create intellectuals who can participate in national and international affairs, today we are living into global village age hence there is interest of many section and their intention is involved in many ways to get their motto done.This is our nation we must take our own responsibilities and measure to make our country strong.Human is only human if anyone discriminate them on other basis than it is nothing but illiteracy.
If this had happened in Modi's Gujarat, it would have been breaking news every 5 mins. We would have had the likes Of Teesta screaming their head off on TV channels. I am surprised to note that a fair section of the media is giving more prominence to Pawar play than to his grave humanitarian crisis.Is it because it is a Congress ruled state?
My sympathies for the bereaved and affected families. Home Minister PC is nowhere to be seen for his normally more-than-eagerly-ready comments on such events. Because, this is a Congress-ruled state. And this issue falls partly directly under his Ministry.
Why is the 'secular' media not calling a Spade a Spade? What is the BJP and other parties doing? I do not see any reaction from them. Of course Congress will keep mum. And where have all the Human Rights activists groups who voice strong concern at the slightest alleged provocation?
Media has the big role to play and they should go with the truth. Here
in kokrajhar the minorities are victim and they are facing..Furthermore,
our Boarders are not open, rather fully protected by "BSF'. So its not
possible for a Bangladeshi resident to come here for creating such
vicious activity..
My understanding is that Bangladesh muslims who made illegal migration to North-Eastern state is causing problem. Don't call them as minority they are illegal migrants. I request Hindu to do neutral journalism. For me media like you are causes of inflating violence among community. Do you allow someone to occupy your house and dictate terms for you. Thats what happening in Assam and it should be dealt with iron fist i.e sending back all Bang muslims to their nation. They are the trouble maker. Not bodos.
It is just all to simple to place blame on,
a. Political parties (vote-bank politics)
b. Immigrants (whether they're from Azad Kashmir or Bangladesh or
elsewhere)
c. Corruption, etc
.
But - the bottom-line is this - what did *YOU* as an individual
citizen do to make any change *at all*. Donating a few INR to some
fund or helping out at some volunteer position - that is NOT ENOUGH.
.
Not just Assam - if the current trend (sadly its a global trend)
continues the whole world will be under an oppressive regime headed
either by UN or NATO (Agenda 21) - and there is *NOTHING* any of us
can do. Anyone that tries to even express contrary opinions will be
characterized as a terrorist or convicted for inciting violence.
.
*THE HINDU* is no exception
.
NARAYAN
born in Kasimedu, Chennai - right now at Los Angeles CA
The root cause of violence is encroachment of land by bangladeshi immigrants which everyone knows but govt is silent on this,they knew this is their fault giving them support for vote bank.not only congress,no political party took action against the problem and result is in front of our eyes..
Yet another riot involving the blessed religion of peace. What a surprise!
Why doesn't your newspaper question the state and central governments about their failure to provide adequate security to residents? After about 24 days of violence, police issues shoot at sight orders? Why was government sleeping for years, allowing illegal immigrants to occupy areas rather than providing them separate settlements? Why were the court orders not complied? Why do you not take Tarun Gogoi ji to task about this ethnic cleansing of Bodos from their lands? Why is this a less severe crime than 2002 Gujarat? Why do you not question Congress' secular credentials when it doesn't tackle the illegal occupancy of Bangladeshis?
Our laws are insufficient to handle mob attacks. This time Bodos came
out with machine gun, don't be surprised if next time somebody else will
do the same. People who are living there for centuries are being called
"immigrant" but recent real immigrants in this region from Nepal and
Tibet are getting a pass. Bodos themselves came from China hundreds of
years ago and now they want to secede -- that the root cause of temper.
All conflicts are about resources. Get to the bottom of it. If it is land - put in robust land records - learn from states like UA/KA etc. If it is about jobs - stimulate the private sector - look at BH,GJ,KA, etc. Instead of fighting over sharing the pie, think about increasing the size of the pie. Eureka, this approach is congruous with political goals as well. However, effective border control is a must to prevent continuous one way population movement. These are of-course medium to long term institutional goals and take time to hold roots. In the immediate - the violence must be controlled- before it ireparably divides the social fabric. Apologies for my generalization, but I am sure that the Assam police's performance is deplorable, "even though the IAS cadre is VERY CAPABLE " (I wonder against what standard such capability is measured). Thank heavens we still have an apolitical Army, but I cannot help wondering - for how long. BTW - PM Manmohan Singh is an RS member from Assam.
@Majid Memon and Tahir: We are not talking about "Indian muslims".. but
the Bangladeshi immigrants. They have their own country. Why should they
kill Indian citizens (either Muslim or Hindu)in India. This is our
country and not theirs.
I think this is strictly a local issue. The Govt. should not involve the army and escalate the issue.It is more sensible to accommodate the fleeing populace in the adjoining states than add fuel to the fire.
Your claim that 'immigrants' are involved is insidious and dangerous, and is contrary to the high standards of secularism you have otherwise assiduously maintained while reporting 'ethnic' violence elsewhere.
Riot can never be the solution of anything. So it is the earnest request
to the Respected Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh and to the C.M of
Assam, Mr. Tarun Gogoi........please stop the violence and make Assam as
well as India as a land of Peace.Don't make it another GODHRA.
What is going on in this country.....especially the
NorthEast........when will the corrupt government learn a lesson.
Why can't they just kick these illegal immigrants out of our country.
How many innocent lives, property, time and money will we waste just
because the government is so corrupt............its high time for a
change everyone, something needs to be done and it should be done soon.
We should rather boycott this Congress Government.
Assam is sitting on a time bomb. Bangladeshi bengali hindus came to india to escape prosecution in Bangladesh but where would the indigineous people of assam the Bodos, the Miri, Assamese, naga,rabhas etc will go????this is a fight for our land, our way of life & fight for india. Remember if you loose assam you lose the entire north east. These illigal bangladeshi muslims have no common thing with us. These people will migrate, encroch our land, grow in numbers and then start threatening the local people.Already 6 districts are muslim dominated and by 2011 3 more districts Darrang, Morigoan & Bongiagoan will be muslim dominated. 50 assembly seats are now in the hands of these illigeal migrants and if the present trend continues soon the control of power will be with these illegal migrants. Assam will become a muslim state. Indigeneous people will either be eliminated or converted most like they will all massacared like the hindus in bangladesh.
"Miscreants among the Bodos and Muslims....." great secular reporting
actually hands off reporting from a great newspaper. If you have nothing
on the genesis of the problem pse join the ranks of tabloids.
In India.... violence is always politically motivated... beware of politicans..!!!
I wonder why The Hindu published only pictures of the affected illegal
muslim immigrants and not a single photo of the Bodo tribe. The Bodos
are also equally affected in this violence. I have seen them (pics) in
other newspapers and media. This is not fair reporting. Hindu you need
to grow up and learn from other media!
shame on the system. what muslim's what hindu's? still divide and rule policy is applicable in India. Regretting, seriously a threat to national integration. Don't know how far this spark will fire..
@ Tahir
What is wrong with the word minority immigrant ?
They are basically immigrant from Bangladesh - whether legal/illegal
The most vulnerables are being affected in this carnage. One has the right to live. Death cannot be complemented by another death. The peace process should be initiated at least in this situation of crises. No blame game saves a life but neither using ambiguous terms can suppress crimes. The law should prevail.
The reporter must know few facts: The so called "minority" immigrants constitue 33% of the population. The bodo constitute just 5% of the population. And also check the details of casualities before you accuse the victims!!
Please stop this irresponsible reporting.
This is because of the failure of the government to check the illegal immigrants from crossing the border and settling in Assam. It's not a Hindu-Muslim issue, but the fact that the immigrants are slowly and surely coming in such large numbers so as the local people become minority themselves in their own area. I pray for Assam.
The Central Govt. of India is responsible for this great mess.
Why did they allow Bangladeshis to come and settle in Assam in the first place.
Since the law courts have given their verdict, " send them back ". this is the right solution to this thorny problem.
For 20 years a certain section of people in Assam had been warning
about the deteriorating law and order situtaion in Assam including
this writer.
Whether today illegal immigration exists or not is anyone's guess but
the fact is for a large time it condtinued unabated in Assam.The
census report would reveal the lopsided rapid increase in the number
of Muslims in ASSAM .They are wrongfully termed minorites in Assam.IN
Assam the tribals are the minorities.
BUt still i dont consider it as a religious conflict.Its a
manifestation of struggle between two groups over the avaliable
economic resources.This is a classic subaltern conflict.
A conccerted effort to change the demographics of Assam for petty
electoral gains .has resulted in this major debacle.The situtaion in
Assam will only worsen and not get any better.,
A holistic plan is now needed to adress these questions.Merely using
carrot and stick policy convenening Ministerial delegations wouldnt
help anything or anyone.
Mr Prime Minister, I appeal to you to protect Indian citizens, send responsible leaders with army and Indian force to protect us from the evils. Send forces to Kokrajhar and Gossaigaon, Kachugaon, and Bongaigaon, and Dhubri. We may look like the Chinese or the Tibetans, we may not be able to speak Hindi, but we are truly Indians at heart. We have no where to go. If you are a patriot - love your country, please protect the Bodos in Assam. Thank you in anticipation.
The term "Minority" being attached to these illegal immigrants is
simply perceived because in reality they seem to have engulfed almost
the whole of Assam. Since 1971, scores of people have illegally
crossed the porous Assam-Bangladesh border. Formerly migrants were
Hindus who had fled the revolt later followed by the Muslims trying to
escape abject poverty that prevails in Bangladesh. This situation has
erupted as a result of the stinking vote bank politics that still
continues to thrive. Each party that came to power miserably failed to
save Assam. This clash acquiring a communal color was unfortunately
imminent.
Bangladesh is increasingly being burdened by her burgeoning
population. Limited resources fail to support this unsustainable
growth of humans. Clearly the tragic ramifications are being faced by
us, Indians. The governments of both the countries must take some
serious steps to bring development on a common platform to prevent
this poverty driven migration from worsening.
This is a threat to national integration..all the communities should live peacefully and think for the welfare of this country..please stop the riots and co-operate..
When a community has lost its land,resources,above all its political bargaining strength to a community that today constitute 33 percent of Assam,it doesnt remain a question of religion.It had become a class conflict without doubt.I had to leave my village and i know the pain of bodos.Please give them their land back.And THE HINDU must stop talking of religion based reservations ,it would do great harm and then you wont have an India to write about the muslims living here.
@ Tahir
I am from Kokrajhar, and yes 'The Hindu' is right in calling them
immigrants, because they are immigrants
Go ask them, they will say they are from Bangladesh
I have spend my entire life in Kokrajhar and I know them
Don't make any comments before knowing the facts
@ Majid
Don't be a fanatic bro, this is not a hindu muslim conflict. This is a
foreign aggression on our land
The report is vague on the identity of the creators of violence. This leaves the readers to guess based on their own judgement of the state of things in the oountry.
Don't you think that the PM should visit the state as the issue is serious Assam being a border state?
No country can tolerate unrestricted flow of illegal immigrants from other countries. The so-called secular parties allowed the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh to stay within the country on account of vote bank politics. Entire demographics of states like Assam and W. Bengal has been changed particularly in the border areas. These illegal immigrnts need to go. The media is not giving the correct picture.
It seems the comments for this news article sheds more light into the situation than the news itself.
Going through the news i was wondering about the cause of violence, north east does not come up frequently in the news we get here in south, we dont have much idea about what happens there.
I expect a bit more courage from 'The Hindu' to report the facts. Some facts may be uncomfortable, maybe for the muslims, may be for other religions, but fact remains a fact.
The news says 50K people are in relief camps, but we didnt know anything till now, not seeming much news coverage. If this is the way news are reported then this media as we know such will start to loose its dominance and online news sharing will take that place.
What type of journalism is this when there is no mention of who or which
communities are the perpetrators here? Why are you afraid of reporting
the fact that Congress has encouraged mass illegal infiltration of
Bangladeshi Muslims into Assam, therefore causing this lawlessness?
Islamisation of Kashmir saw murder & mayhem of Hindus, now Assam also.
Kindly report responsibly.
All the blame for this lies with congress.They over the years encouraged
illegal migrants to settle down in tribal areas of Assam for votebank
politics.Assam has now become another Bangladesh.But its sad to see
innocent migrants being killed for the selfish acts of politicians
It is unfortunate the state govt has failed to control the communal conflagration in Kokrajhar.
Kokrajhar has been violence since the first week of July, 2012. However, the govt had ignored the
escalating violence despite knowing it. The ongoing clash which is going on Kokrajhar, now spread to
two other district emerges from the illegal immigrants who have occupied the tribal areas inch by inch
due to support they received from the agencies. The violence is the handy work of the govt machinery to
divert the growing Bodoland demand for a separate state. As the ceasefire talks between the Central
govt. and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) is in progress, the state government is
making a political conspiracy to divert the peace process and allow the violence to escalate. What is
surprising is that the paramilitary forces have been deployed only in the minority dominated areas.
Whereas, the areas where the Bodos are vulnerable there are no sign of security forces.
Why is the government not removing these minority illegal immigrants from Indian soil? If this continues then India will lose this land to Bangladesh in the near future. This is what is causing the tensions between the indigenous people and the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
This is not surprising. Bring in immigrants for short term gain of winning elections, and see Assam burn. Congress party did not learn any lessons from the debacle they caused in Kashmir. You cannot change a culture by imposing your will. If that wished to do so, why was this not tried out in Kashmir. Because it would not pay to upset the minority community, whereas Assamese are much smaller in numbers and do not make up a vote bank.
Govt has to take serious steps to kick these immegrants out of the country. Govt has to respect the Court's judgement and send the after 1970 settlers back. Why these people have to be enteretained against our own peolple. It can only happen in our country. Congress get out...
Fundamental question is how aliens can terrorize Indians in India? Assam is on the way to become another Kashmir, a much more sinister one at that because of the twin evils of vote-bank politics and negligent attitude towards the North East in general.
I want to ask The Hindu, why the word 'immigrant' with minority is being
used here? Being a responsible newspaper that's a shame you are judging
people here in Assam. Please do not use words just like TOI or any other
newspapers.
Only Muslims are targeted and blamed for violence. People forget that
the culprits have no religion.
Please Email the Editor