The article “Riots & the bogey of Bangladeshis” (Aug. 8) was interesting. I agree that the Bodos and Muslims are hurling allegations and counter-allegations rather than focussing on the need to stop the violence. But, on reading the article, the reader gets the impression that there are no migrants from Bangladesh in Assam and that the Muslim population in the affected regions consists of the descendents of Muslim peasants who migrated from East Bengal in the early 20th century.
I am in my late seventies and took part in the 1971 war. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi told the whole world that the operation was to stop the influx of refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan which was adversely affecting our country. It is time we adopted a secular, non-partisan attitude to the complex problem.
Lt Col B.R. Kohli (retd.),
New Delhi
The seed of segregation sown by Partition has borne fruit in the form of communal violence in BTAD districts and the adjoining Dhubri district. As always, the innocent are the sufferers. Instead of solving the crisis, political and religious leaders are fishing in troubled waters. No nation can flourish in an atmosphere of hatred, distrust and segregation.
Meera S. Das,
Alapuzzha
We need to shun hypocrisy and accept that migration from Bangladesh has taken place over the years. The BSF has been ordered not to fire at them but to hand them back to Bangladesh, rightly so, on humanitarian grounds. There is need for political will to find a long-term solution to the unrest. Temporary fire-fighting measures will not help. I agree with the author that it is wrong to target all Muslims and call them Bangladeshi migrants.
Hemanth Jayaramaiah,
Bangalore
