Veronica Khangchian
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
…..the corrupt politics of vote banks and crass electoral calculi, to the manifest detriment of the national interest, must be defeated. India's diversity can only be held together by the unity of law and of justice, not by the unprincipled horse-trading that governs politics today.
In what it is feared to be a recurrence of July-September 2012 riots between the Bodos and the Muslims, 32 people have so far been killed in the violence reportedly unleashed by the I.K. Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB-IKS) in the Bodoland Territorial Administration Districts (BTAD) governed by the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in Assam, in the aftermath of the Lok Sabha [Lower House of Parliament] elections held in the area on April 24, 2014. Union Minister of Home Affairs (MHA) Sushilkumar Shinde stated, on April 4, "During the last few days, there have been wanton acts of depredation leading to the deaths of 32 persons, mainly women and children. Out of these 32 persons, 31 belonged to minority community… It is noteworthy that these acts (of violence in Kokrajhar and Baksa regions of Assam) started only after the group started steadily losing its cadres either by surrender or elimination during operations when they opened fire on the forces." Without naming the "group", the NDFB-IKS, Shinde added that the MHA had already deployed 43 companies of Central Forces and was in the process of sending an additional 1,000 personnel. Further, he disclosed, 1,500 soldiers of the Army had been positioned in the violence-hit areas. "These numbers are not fixed and can be increased as per requirement," he said. NDFB-IKS has, meanwhile, denied its involvement claiming it was “a political conspiracy by the Assam Government to trigger clashes between two communities.”
Violence started when heavily armed NDFB-IKS militants entered a house and shot dead three members of a family, including two women, and injured an infant of a minority community near Ananda Bazar area in Baksa District on May 1. The incident was followed by indiscriminate firing by the insurgents at Balapara-I village in neighbouring Kokrajhar District in the early hours of May 2, which left eight persons dead and several others injured in their own homes. Again, in the night of May 2, 12 bullet-riddled bodies, including those of five women and a child, were recovered from Nankekhadrabari and Nayanguri villages in Baksa District, where nearly 100 houses and a wooden bridge had been set ablaze by the militants. Another nine bodies were recovered from a village in Baksa District in the morning of May 3, taking the toll to 32. The bodies of the victims, including four children and two women, were recovered from Khagrabari village, under Salbari sub-division adjacent to the Manas National Park.
The attack at Balapara village also came at a time when most adult males had been staying away from their homes for fear of the Police, who were looking for the killers of a constable at a polling booth during the election on April 24. A Policeman was killed while another was injured when a mob tried to capture a polling booth in Kokrajhar Parliamentary seat, leading BSF personnel to open fire on April 24.
Besides Chirang and parts of Dhubri Districts, indefinite curfew has also been imposed in Kokrajhar and Baksa Districts. The Army has been staging flag marches in the violence-hit areas to instill confidence among people and to bring the situation under control. "Shoot at sight order has also been issued in violence–hit areas". Media reports indicated that since the attacks on migrant Muslims started on May 1, at least 50,000 people have fled their villages in the state’s Kokrajhar and Baska districts.
Investigators disclosed that around 20 suspects had been arrested on May 3, reportedly for helping the militants in the violence-hit districts of Baksa and Kokrajhar. The victims of the attacks were Muslim migrants who have been locked, for years, in land disputes with the Bodo tribes. Muslim villagers were reportedly targeted as a punishment for not voting for candidates backed by the rebels.
Meanwhile, people fear a repeat of the large-scale conflagrations of 2012, involving Bodos and Muslims which left at least 109 dead according to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database and over 400,000 displaced. 2012 was the second such clash involving Bodos and Muslims since the formation of the BTC in 2003. The first confrontation had occurred in 2008, and claimed 55 lives.
The factors which provoked the May 2014 attacks appear varied and controversial.
The leader of the Pro-Talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-PTF), former commander of undivided ULFA’s 709 battalion, and Independent candidate for the Kokrajhar parliamentary constituency, Naba Kumar Sarania alias Hira Sarania, who was backed by theSanmila Janagosthiya Aikya Mancha (SJAM, an umbrella organisation of most of the non-Bodo organisations of the BTAD areas), suspected the involvement of the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) in the ongoing violence. Addressing the press in Kokrajhar city on May 2, Sarania, added, further, “The Government said it had information that such clashes might occur. If it did have prior information, why didn’t the Government take any steps to prevent the violence. There is definitely some involvement of the Government in this ongoing violence.” The former ULFA leader appealed to the Government to take steps to end the mindless violence and threatened to launch an economic blockade in the State if it failed to do so. He declared, “If the violence and killings do not stop by May 5, we will launch an economic blockade in all the entry gates of Lower Assam like Boxirhat Gate, Srirampur Gate, etc.”
The All Bodoland Minority Students' Union (ABMSU) and the All Koch Rajbongshi Students' Union (AKRSU, Hiteshwar Barman faction), two leading students' bodies in BTAD, supported the candidature of Sarania. These groups feel that Sarania, a non-Bodo candidate, could raise his voice in Parliament for the 73 per cent non-Bodo population living in BTAD. Lafiqul Islam Ahmed, General Secretary, ABMSU, noted, "We are supporting Hira Sarania, because he is committed to work for the non-Bodo communities which are not feeling secure in BTAD. ABMSU wants the Centre not to create a separate Bodoland State including the BTAD areas where a major chunk of population is non-Bodos. We also want the Government to review the Bodo Accord under which Bodos were given priority over the non-Bodos in BTAD. Hira has come in support of our demands and we believe he has the voice to raise the issues of the non-Bodo communities under Kokrajhar seat." Ahmed claimed that the minority people were being tagged as illegal Bangladeshi migrants and were being harassed in BTAD areas: "Our people who were born and brought up in Assam should be protected like any other Indian citizen. Minority people, who were victims of violent clashes in BTAD two years back, are yet to be adequately compensated by the Government. We want our MP [Member of Parliament] to raise his voice for the people of BTAD." Ahmed added that, despite comprising 73 per cent of the population, the non-Bodo communities had been politically deprived in the BTAD areas, as it was mostly Bodos who were contesting the majority of the seats, as most of these were reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.
Though the police claimed that the incidents were not related to the Lok Sabha elections, unofficial sources in Kokrajhar asserted that the villagers may have been targeted because they had apparently not voted in favour of a particular party and its candidate. Further, certain statements underline the relation between the attacks and the just concluded election. A BPF leader thus declared, "Everything was fine till April 23. We were assured that we would get about 80 per cent Muslim votes in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Kokrajhar on April 24. But all Muslim votes went in favour of Naba Kumar Sarania alias Hira Sarania."
Media reports further indicated that the tipping point came with a comment by Kokrajhar (East) Member of Legislative Assembly Pramila Rani Brahma, sister of the BTC Chairman Hagrama Mohilary. Rani Brahma observed that the BPF candidate, Chandan Brahma, would have a tough time winning because non-Bodos had consolidated behind Sarania, heightening the tension between Bodo and non-Bodo groups. SJAM spokesperson Jamsher Ali alleged, “On April 30, BPF leader Pramila Rani Brahma commented that a particular community hadn’t voted for the BPF candidate in the Lok Sabha polls and a day after the killings started. Therefore, we want an inquiry to find out whether there is any connection between Brahma’s comments and the killings.” He said the killings followed a BPF meeting, to analyse voting in the Kokrajhar constituency in the General Elections. He added, “The killings might have been carried out by militants but we suspect that some forces had instigated them.”
On April 21, 2014, the President of the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) had criticized the 'divisive politics' of Independent candidate Hira Sarania, arguing that Hira was playing narrow politics with Bodo and non–Bodo votes, and this was not good for the integrity of the people of the region. ABSU President Promod Boro declared that ULFA leader Hira Sarania had created an atmosphere of hatred among the Bodos and non–Bodos.
On April 20, while alleging that the ULFA-PTF group has asked all its members not to vote for Hira Sarania, SJAM General Secretary Matiur Rahman asserted, “They (Arabinda Rajkhowa of ULFA-PTF and others) never raised their voice when non-Bodos and other ethnic groups suffered during violence in the BTAD region. Now their decree only hints that the outfit's leaders are in nexus with the BPF led by Hagrama Mohilary. Sarania was fielded by the people and we believe he is going to win by a huge margin." On April 17, ULFA-PTF disowned Sarania and appealed to the voters in Kokrajhar constituency not to vote for him as he had ‘made mockery’ of the 'extreme sacrifices' made by hundreds of ULFA martyrs who laid down their lives for the ‘national struggle’, by participating in the Indian Parliamentary elections against the principles and ideology of the ULFA.
The long-unresolved issue of illegal immigrants surfaced again, when an NDFB-IKS leader, on May 3, was quoted as stating, "The Bodo people will not stand for usurpation of their land by illegal immigrants while the Government remains unconcerned." Media reports further implied that the targets this time were alleged illegal Bangladeshis and also Nepalese immigrants, whose numbers, according to Bodo leaders, have been rising exponentially.
The Security Forces (SFs), meanwhile, insist that the violence carried out by the outfit is in retaliation to operations against the outfit. Noting the involvement of the NDFB-IKS group in the killings, the Assam Police, on May 2, asserted that the Bodo rebel group was frustrated and, as a result, had chosen a “soft target”. Talking to reporters after attending a series of high level security meetings at Dispur, State Director General of Police (DGP) Khagen Sarma observed, “Stern action will be taken against NDFB-IKS group... In the last few months, 18 important cadres of NDFB-IKS outfit were killed in encounters with security forces and also 42 important cadres of the outfit surrendered before security forces... To show its strength, the outfit had earlier tried to attack security forces and Ranjan Daimary faction of NDFB (NDFB-RD), but failed in its attempt and became frustrated. To make its presence felt, they carried out the attack on civilians yesterday.”
Some incidents are significant in this context: on February 20, 2014, a 'deputy commander' (southern command) of the NDFB-IKS identified as B. Thaijou alias Kamaram Brahma was killed in an encounter with SFs in the Makrijhora-Malatijhora area of Parbhatjora subdivision in Kokrajhar District. The militant had a bounty of INR 300,000 on his head. Again, on March 31, an 'area commander' of NDFB-IKS, identified as Medra Boro, was killed while another three cadres fled with injuries, following an exchange of fire between the Police and the group at Kamargaon under Sorbhog Police Station in Barpeta District.
The May 2014 attacks came a few hours after the NDFB-IKS issued a statement warning of “tit-for-tat retaliation” against the State and Union Governments for killing its cadres in a “fake encounter” with “Assam police and CRPF, using Ranjan Daimary’s cadres” at Jingia Tinkhuti village in Sonitpur District. This referred to the April 30, 2014, incident, where three suspected cadres of NDFB-IKS, identified as Rajai Mushahary, Custom Boro and Adlish Basumatary were killed in an encounter with the Police in the Naojan Tinkhuti area. The NDFB-IKS cadres had been involved in the killing of Lalit Boro, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker, at Tinkhuti, on April 7, during the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls. Inspector-General of Police (BTAD) L.R. Bisnoi observed that the militant group had targeted civilians to avenge the killing of three militants of the outfit on April 30. The NDFB-IKS had earlier warned the State and Union Government against the 'systematic killing' of its members and also cautioned the founding-Chairman of the NDFB, Ranjan Daimary, against engaging in fratricidal killings.
On May 2, 2014, the Centre asserted that NDFB-IKS leaders in Myanmar were trying to provoke communal tension in BTAD to divert attention from operations against them, but promised to continue operations against the NDFB-IKS. Joint Secretary (Northeast) in the Union Home Ministry, Shambhu Singh, thus noted, “We are told Songbijit has been sending messages from Myanmar to whip up communal tension in Bodoland to divert attention from operations against them... The Government of Myanmar has been informed about his presence but they have said they do not allow any anti-India activity from their soil.”
Intelligence sources disclosed that the Union Home Ministry had alerted the Assam Police and other security agencies about the possibility of attacks by Bodo militants a few days earlier: "The Home Ministry gave specific inputs about the Songbijit faction's plans to target the minorities from Thursday evening (May 1)."
The NDFB-IKS is the only faction of the NDFB that has refused to sit for talks with the Government and has emerged as the most lethal outfit in the State. In 2014 alone, prior to the latest attacks in May, it had already killed 12 civilians and one SF trooper. 11 militants of the outfit have also been killed during the year. The NDFB-IKS' split was announced on November 20, 2012, by the then NDFB-RD’s Myanmar based, ‘army chief’ I.K. Songbijit, who, vowed to “work and fight together with vigour and determination to liberate Boroland” and “Western South East Asia (North-East India)”. Meanwhile, on November 29, 2013, the Central and Assam State Governments had signed a six months long tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with NDFB-RD, at the Headquarters of the Special Branch (SB) of Assam Police at Kahilipara.
A March 17, 2014, report observed that, according to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) the NDFB had killed at least 70 people in Assam through 2010-14. In January 2014, State Police Headquarters declared 15 members of the NDFB-IKS, including its chief Songbijit Ingti Kathar on November 29, 2013, 'most wanted'. Assam Police said valuable information leading to the arrest of these 15 NDFB-IKS militants would be worth INR 9.5 million.
In the most recent incident by the outfit prior to the May 2014 attacks, two persons were shot dead by suspected NDFB-IKS cadres in pre-poll violence in Kokrajhar District on April 23, a day before the Lok Sabha polls. Heavily armed militants attacked them at Bhogjhra village and shot them at point-blank range. Earlier, on January 17, 2014, at least six persons were killed when suspected NDFB-IKS militants pulled down about a dozen persons from a bus and opened fire at them at Serfanguri in Kokrajhar District. An Assam Police official said the bus was on its way from Siliguri in West Bengal to Shillong in Meghalaya, when a group of armed militants intercepted it on National Highway-31 at Athiabari under Serfanguri Police Station.
In a typical response, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had condemned the May attacks as a "cowardly act", and Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde promised to send 10 additional companies of Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMFs) sought by the State Government. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also condemned the attacks as "cowardly attempts to spread fear and terror among our citizens" and added that the Centre would take all measures to maintain law and order and restore peace. Assam Chief Minister Gogoi demanded an National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the attacks, and this has been approved. An NIA team will reach Assam on May 5 investigate the attacks. None of these high officials has, however, chosen to speak of the failure, not only to act proactively on the prior intelligence that was available, but also the comprehensive failure to act on commitments made over the years to resolve the issue that were contributing to unending cycles of violence.
During the 2012 violence between the Bodos and Muslims, for instance, Chief Minister Gogoi had declared that the State Government was 'on a mission' to throw out every single illegal migrant from the State, and appealed to people to help the Government in detecting them. The Bodos had then termed the 2012 incident as a clash with illegal migrants and not Indian Muslims. On February 3, 2014, the Central Government told the Supreme Court that it has agreed to allocate INR 2.88 billion to the Assam government for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) across the State, to be completed within three years, and confirmed that INR 250 million had already been released to the State Government for preliminary work. The actual outcome, however, remains to be seen, as the NRC project has been languishing in the State since 2005, despite repeated assurances and allocations. Moreover, even as the non Bodos opposed the creation of BTC, this measure has, at the same time, failed to help the Bodos. As a result, BPF leaders who had signed a Memorandum of Settlement in 2003, have revived their original demand for statehood.
Unless the tribal and illegal migrants’ issues are genuinely addressed, tensions, especially between ethnic Bodo people and Muslim settlers - and, indeed, indigenous populations and illegal migrants across Assam - which have simmered for years, will continue to escalate into bloody confrontations again and again.
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