10-08-2008, 06:50 PM
Interesting peek into the ummah mindset:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sons-of-soil' Muslims face attacks from migrants
8 Oct 2008, 0238 hrs IST, Naresh Mitra,TNN
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ROWTA CHARIALI (Udalguri): The charred courtyard is all that remains of the house that Iqbal Ahmed built from his meagre savings as a farmer. Ahm
ed, an Assamese-speaking Muslim, watched helplessly as Bangladeshi migrants burned down his home in retaliatory attacks on October 4.
If the communal clashes in Udalguri had their genesis in the conflict between Bodos and Muslims, Rowta Chariali has a different story to tell. The attack on Ahmed's house indicates that the communal flare-up in Udalguri and Darrang is not a simple conflict between two communities. After all, Ahmed is a Muslim and should not have expected an attack from a Muslim.
But it so turned out that he was Assamese-speaking, living in an Assamese neighbourhood. The Bangladeshi migrants who went on a rampage made no further distinction about the target of their fury than the fact that they were all Assamese. Ironically, it was the Bodos who first informed Ahmed that Assamese Muslims, too, were being attacked which, says Ahmed, ''helped me send my family to safety before the mobs struck.
But in the event at least six houses of Assamese Muslims - they are also known as Morias in Rowta Chariali area - were either gutted or looted by migrant Bangladeshis.
Zia-ul-Haque was attacked the same day as Ahmed. Everything he had, including eight cows and six goats, were looted and his four-room house razed. ''The miscreants took away even our bullock cart and a television set.They are from my religion. How could they do this?'' Haque said. Ahmed argued that more than the religion as an identity for Assamese Muslims, it's also their sense of ''indigenousness'' that is paramount for them.
''Morias are indigenous to Assam. Our forefathers were born and buried in this land,'' Ahmed said.
However, the picture was completely different some distance away from Rowta Chariali, at Jargaon. There, Nur Hussain's house was set ablaze on October 4. He says the attackers belonged to ''different communities''.
On Tuesday, the situation in Udalguri showed signs of improvement with no fresh incidents of violence. But suituation remained tense. Nearly a lakh of people have been hit by the violence that began on October 3. Udalguri deputy commissioner Kamal Mahanta said: ''Except the Monday night killing of one person in Bhergaon, there was no fresh report of violence in the district on Tuesday. The situation has considerably improved.''Â
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/S...how/3571590.cms<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sons-of-soil' Muslims face attacks from migrants
8 Oct 2008, 0238 hrs IST, Naresh Mitra,TNN
Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
ROWTA CHARIALI (Udalguri): The charred courtyard is all that remains of the house that Iqbal Ahmed built from his meagre savings as a farmer. Ahm
ed, an Assamese-speaking Muslim, watched helplessly as Bangladeshi migrants burned down his home in retaliatory attacks on October 4.
If the communal clashes in Udalguri had their genesis in the conflict between Bodos and Muslims, Rowta Chariali has a different story to tell. The attack on Ahmed's house indicates that the communal flare-up in Udalguri and Darrang is not a simple conflict between two communities. After all, Ahmed is a Muslim and should not have expected an attack from a Muslim.
But it so turned out that he was Assamese-speaking, living in an Assamese neighbourhood. The Bangladeshi migrants who went on a rampage made no further distinction about the target of their fury than the fact that they were all Assamese. Ironically, it was the Bodos who first informed Ahmed that Assamese Muslims, too, were being attacked which, says Ahmed, ''helped me send my family to safety before the mobs struck.
But in the event at least six houses of Assamese Muslims - they are also known as Morias in Rowta Chariali area - were either gutted or looted by migrant Bangladeshis.
Zia-ul-Haque was attacked the same day as Ahmed. Everything he had, including eight cows and six goats, were looted and his four-room house razed. ''The miscreants took away even our bullock cart and a television set.They are from my religion. How could they do this?'' Haque said. Ahmed argued that more than the religion as an identity for Assamese Muslims, it's also their sense of ''indigenousness'' that is paramount for them.
''Morias are indigenous to Assam. Our forefathers were born and buried in this land,'' Ahmed said.
However, the picture was completely different some distance away from Rowta Chariali, at Jargaon. There, Nur Hussain's house was set ablaze on October 4. He says the attackers belonged to ''different communities''.
On Tuesday, the situation in Udalguri showed signs of improvement with no fresh incidents of violence. But suituation remained tense. Nearly a lakh of people have been hit by the violence that began on October 3. Udalguri deputy commissioner Kamal Mahanta said: ''Except the Monday night killing of one person in Bhergaon, there was no fresh report of violence in the district on Tuesday. The situation has considerably improved.''Â
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/S...how/3571590.cms<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->