Bodo vs Bangladeshi

[G.Subramaniam]

The chief of the Bodoland Territorial Council has threatened to launch a fresh movement for a separate Bodoland state unless the government weeds out the “Bangaldeshi immigrants” who are being described as the root cause of the ongoing violence.



“Don’t force me to launch a movement for a separate Bodoland. The Centre and the state government should not allow illegal immigrants from Bangladesh to stay in BTC. They are at the root of all the trouble,” says Hagrama Mohilary, former head of the militant Bodoland Liberation Tigers and now chairperson of the political Bodoland People’s Front, besides being chief executive of the BTC. He says he “does not want a separate Bodoland now” but what has happened with Bodos in the last one-and-a-half months makes strong enough a reason to raise the demand afresh.



The Assam government has been trying to get refugees, mostly Muslims, to return from refugee camps and Hagrama’s party claims a large number of them are “Bangladeshi citizens who settled in BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts) illegally”.



“Come what may, we will not allow Bangaldeshis to stay in BTC. Why should we take the responsibility of foreigners?” he says. “Not less than 2 lakh Bangladeshi Muslims have crossed the border and settled in BTAD over the last nine years. We have good relations with indigenous Bengali-speaking Muslims who have been living here for decades with land rights and voter identity cards.”



He accused the government for being soft on infiltrators. “I have told the government that if the Bangladesh border is not sealed, the ethnic crisis will remain,” says Hagrama, whose party claims Kokrajhar’s Muslim population has gone up 10 per cent in 10 years.



“I had even told the state government Bangladeshi Muslims are forming militant organisations with the objective of a separate Muslimland with 14 districts, including the four in BTAD. They have formed the United Minority National Army in BTAD,” he says.



He says the situation would not have turned so violent had efforts been made to involve the BTC in the peace process at the initial stage. “The government involved us after almost one-and-a-half months,” he says.



Asked about the supply of arms to rioters, he says, “Money can fetch anything,” but adds, “Bodos do not possess arms. We surrendered all our arms after the BLT was dissolved.

[dhu]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news...26737.aspx

Grenade explosion in Guwahati, 3 injured and 1 CRPF personnel killed in attack.

[G.Subramaniam]

[quote name='dhu' date='08 September 2012 - 09:03 PM' timestamp='1347117934' post='115687']

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news...26737.aspx

Grenade explosion in Guwahati, 3 injured and 1 CRPF personnel killed in attack.

[/quote]





This happened in Dhubri, a 80% muslim infested town and there was a riot there too



This was inevitable. Lets hope they overplay their card as in kashmir and AFSPA gets declared in Dhubri

[G.Subramaniam]

Illiteracy leading to high birth rate among Muslims: Gogoi



Quote:

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today dismissed the suggestion that illegal migration from Bangladesh has led to high growth of Muslim population in the state but blamed illiteracy for the high birth rate among the community.



He said growth of Muslim population in Assam was higher than Hindus as the community give birth more children due to poor rate of literacy among themselves. "It is because of low literacy...Illiteracy among the Muslims. Most of them are illiterate. Every family...six, seven, eight, nine, ten...It is because of illiteracy," he told Karan Thapar in Devil's Advocate programme on CNN-IBN.



When repeatedly asked whether he was suggesting that illiterate people have more children, Gogoi said, "Yes, 100 per cent I believe...It is because of illiteracy. "If you look at the 2001 census, the growth of Muslim population in Assam is less than the national average, almost three per cent. In 2011 census also growth of population in Assam is less than the national average. It is a clear indication that illegal immigration is on decline."

[G.Subramaniam]

In 1901, Nagaon was 13% muslim, in 1971m, 33% muslim, now 51% muslim



Killing triggers riot in Nagaon

By OUR CORRESPONDENT | www.telegraphindia.com – Tue 23 Aug, 2011

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Nagaon, Aug. 22: A youth was beaten to death on charges of theft in a village near the Nagaon district headquarters last night, triggering a clash that threatened to snowball into a communal riot.

The district administration has imposed a partial curfew from 5pm to 5am to bring the situation under control.

Mintu Ahmed, 32, a resident of Pakhimoria village, was caught by villagers of neighbouring Ujoragaon for allegedly stealing from a local telephone exchange.

He was then taken to the local community hall where the villagers beat him to death.

They then strung up the body inside the hall to make it look like a suicide.

On hearing the news, villagers of Pakhimoria attacked Ujoragaon early this morning.

Ahmed, they claimed, was an innocent grocery shop owner. "Ahmed, a popular social worker, was innocent. His death is a big loss to our area," Imdadul Hussain, a resident of Pakhimoria village, said.

The mob torched 15 huts and two vehicles and beat up five persons, including Ujoragaon village headman Promod Bora.

Bora, along with the four other villagers, was later admitted to Nagaon Bhugeswari Phukanoni Civil Hospital in a critical condition.

A team of Nagaon administration led by deputy commissioner M. Angamuthu rushed to the site to prevent further flare-up.

A source said the clash was politically motivated and was related to the forthcoming panchayat elections.

"The group that attacked our village included two political leaders who instigated the mob to torch the houses. We want a high-level inquiry," Biman Jyoti Saikia, a resident of Ujoragaon village, said.

Nagaon additional superintendent of police (headquarters) Amitabh Sinha said two companies of the CRPF and one company of the 9 Assam police battalion have been deployed.

"Most of the accused have fled but we are on the job. The situation is under control and we hope no unwanted incident will take place," the deputy commissioner said.

[G.Subramaniam]

I actually like Gogoi



Interview with Tarun Gogoi



The Assam Chief Minister spoke to Siddharth Varadarajan, Editor of The Hindu, at his office in Dispur on Saturday about the revival of the ‘anti foreigner issue’ in Assamese politics in the wake of the recent clashes between Bodo and Muslim groups in Kokrajhar that turned lakhs of villagers into refugees. Excerpts:



Six weeks after the first killings in Kokrajhar, tens of thousands of displaced persons remain in relief camps but the fear of renewed violence appears to have subsided. Instead, there is talk of a revival of the so-called “anti-foreigner” agitation in the rest of Assam. As Chief Minister, how do you assess the possibility of the revival of this agitation. Is this something that worries you?



They are trying to. I do feel they are trying to do. But I have my doubt. It is not easy to do. It is not easy to revive the sentiment …



But the recent bandh was quite successful.



Any bandh in Assam is successful! If anybody gives a bandh [call], it will be 100 per cent successful. The success of a bandh is not a yardstick of success or mass support… Anybody, a small group or even if a community gives a bandh call where other communities are not involved, there also they observe the bandh.



When you say “they,” who do you feel is behind the attempt to raise the “foreigners” issue again? Is it mostly the Asom Gana Parishad? Or the Bharatiya Janata Party?



The BJP is number one.... But we will also expose them. [We will ask] what you did when you were in power? How many foreigners did you detect and act against? Now just because elections are approaching in 2014, they are making this an issue.



What is the Assam government’s own information on the number of non-citizens living and working in the State? Have you done any internal study about migration, say over the past five years? Has there been any significant rise in the number of undocumented migrants from Bangladesh?



I have all along been saying that migration is on the decline. Where does migration take place? Where there is ample job opportunity, where there is land that is available. Today, land availability is not there. Earlier, why did they come? Today, [that is] why they do not come? Now migration has been there since the British came. Migrations here started during the development of the tea, coal, oil industries in Assam. Biharis and other groups came. Then to construct railway line who came? The workers were Biharis, in clerical jobs there were Bengalis. Then again during British times, more Bengalis came in because there was a push to grow more food.



Now population growth in Assam according to the 2001 Census was less than the national average. Yes, the Muslim population has risen, there is no doubt. Just as even in the tea garden areas, population has risen. This is because of illiteracy. Even in the tribal communities. Illiteracy is the number one cause of higher population growth rates. Now, when the AGP was in power and they had a chance to prove they were different. They could have registered cases [against foreigners living here]. Why did they not do it? In the case of voters list A,B,C, D, so many lists were made to exclude the foreigners.... The Election Commission also tried. How much could they do?



I suppose so far it has proved difficult to disentangle citizens from migrants.



See the number of cases. Three lakh cases are pending. Not that they have all been identified as foreigners… Many of the people they are talking about, they are Assamese, they speak Assamese. And “migration” has become a convenient issue for someone to raise for political ends.



When one of the Bodo leaders was arrested recently [after the Kokrajhar violence], he admitted, ‘Why should I indulge in attacking the Muslims when I myself have engaged them in my business.’ The same thing is true elsewhere in Bodoland also. All development activities, construction, you will find migrants.



Now, in Guwahati there has been migration. To construct your house, to buy chicken, you are dealing with migrants. Now they are all foreigners and they are engaging them! Those who are agitating on this issue, whether AGP or BJP leaders, their pandals, their houses were also constructed by them … In the peak [of the anti-foreigners agitation], I myself saw the AGP building was constructed by them, those who they allege are illegal migrants. We do not say [this]. The politics they are doing is wrong. They say that Tarun Gogoi is giving protection. But [the Muslims] have not voted me for last two elections…



How worried are you about the growth of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) of Badruddin Ajmal among Muslim voters in Assam?



There is a wrong perception that Muslims always vote for the Congress. They never voted more than 50 per cent. Out of 26 [‘Muslim dominated’ seats in an Assembly of 126], the maximum Hiteswar Saikia got was 15 … Second highest I got that time they were with me in 2001. I won 13 of the seats; the other 13 were individuals with the Samjwawadi Party, independents, etc.



The AIUDF has brought all these individuals on one platform. In 1996, we got 9, and 11 of those seats were won by the AGP. Where is the question of Muslims all along being with the Congress? But [the Opposition] goes on blaming the Congress. I am not worried. The same accusation [of bias] is made against me by some Muslims.



Now just because I am Hindu does that mean I should play Hindu politics? As far I am concerned, if Hindus are also accusing me of ‘vote bank politics’ and Muslims are accusing of me playing the ‘Hindu card,’ this means that I am balanced…



Some of your critics have said the requirement of proof of land documentation for rehabilitation of the inmates of refugees from the Kokrajhar violence is unfair.



It is the first stage. If he has land, he had a house, he had properties, these make immediate rehabilitation easier. Now 2.40 lakh people have already returned to their homes. Others are also returning... But one problem the government is facing is you cannot rehabilitate people back in forest areas... A good percentage of [the victims of the violence] were living there.



Why did the Army take so long to deploy in Kokrajhar after the violence started and you asked for assistance?



It took very long, five days. All kinds of procedural problems were there. The Defence Secretary told us he did not have the authority. So I myself had to speak to the Defence Minister and then the Army came out.



But you feel the situation there is under control now?



Yes, now it is controlled.



We keep hearing there are a lot of arms there….



Arms are there … Arms are there with every insurgent group. Whether ULFA, the… KLO [Kamtapur Liberation Organisation]. Even with the ceasefire groups, there are anti-talk [factions]. … though we have recovered 80 per cent, their strength is reduced by 80 per cent. [But] they cannot cause damage, as much damage.

[G.Subramaniam]

Police said a petrol bomb was lobbed at a house in Dhubri town,





leading to clashes between two groups.

“Of the three persons injured, one died on the way to hospital,” said LR Vishnoi, IG (law and order) of Assam Police.



Police clamped indefinite curfew from 7pm in Dhubri and the army conducted flag march in sensitive pockets of the town.



Tension had gripped Dhubri, bordering Bangladesh, in the morning following theft from a temple, which was also desecrated, on Friday night even though curfew was in place.

[G.Subramaniam]

twocircles.net



Assam violence: Sentencing victims to statelessness and starvation

Submitted by admin on 9 September 2012 - 8:08pm

Articles Indian Muslim

By Waliullah Ahmed Laskar



An estimated 250,000 persons out of about 500,000 who have been rendered homeless in the recent ethnic clash in Western Assam districts, where 95 persons died and many disappeared and sustained injuries and loss of properties, are yet to be rehabilitated.



As one side of the conflict and dominant political groups in the state are clamouring for not rehabilitating them claiming that they are Bangladeshi infiltrators, the government has deiced to rehabilitate only those displaced people who have land documents. Till now such documents of only 11,066 families out of estimated 250,000 persons have been verified and reportedly found genuine and will be rehabilitated in 15-30 days.



11000 families = 66000 people, remaining 1.90 lakh bangladeshis lose their homestead in bodoland,



All the BDs squatting on govt land and forest land in Bodoland are evicted

[G.Subramaniam]

Gogoi - I like this guy more than BJP, speaks the truth, Hindus hire bangladeshis



Arun Shourie told the Ahoms, dont hire BDs as domestics



Now, in Guwahati there has been migration. To construct your house, to buy chicken, you are dealing with migrants. Now they are all foreigners and they are engaging them! Those who are agitating on this issue, whether AGP or BJP leaders, their pandals, their houses were also constructed by them … In the peak [of the anti-foreigners agitation], I myself saw the AGP building was constructed by them, those who they allege are illegal migrants. We do not say [this]. The politics they are doing is wrong. They say that Tarun Gogoi is giving protection. But [the Muslims] have not voted me for last two elections…

[G.Subramaniam]

ACHR PRESS RELEASE

[The weekly commentary and analysis of the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) on human rights and governance issues]

ACHR INDEX: PR/IND/07/2012

11 September 2012



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Inquire the role of the Army during the Assam Riots

- Kokrajhar bore the brunt of migration/illegal immigration more than Assam -

Guwahati/New Delhi: Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) while releasing its report, “Assam Riots: Preventable but not prevented” (http://achrweb.org/reports/india/AssamRiots2012.pdf) today, demanded that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh order an inquiry “into the refusal by the Army to be deployed in the riot affected areas, fix the responsibility and take necessary measures including disciplinary action for criminal dereliction of duty by the Army”. ACHR recommended “development of the Standard Operating Procedure to establish the supremacy of the Chief Minister as the Chairman of the Unified Command and deployment of the Army on the Chief Minister’s instruction without any sanction from the Ministry of Defence in cases of riots or natural calamities”.



“The recent riots in Assam were absolutely preventable but not prevented because of the criminal dereliction of duty by officials starting from the Officer-in-Charge of Kokrajhar Police Station to the highest authorities of India’s military establishment i.e. Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Chief of the Army Staff, Director General Military Operations and the Commander of the Eastern Command. Further, Assam government failed to deploy its 27,595 State Armed Police in the riot affected areas. The Assam government did not deploy the Central para-military forces at its command and instead waited for the Central Government to instruct West Bengal and Meghalaya to send para-military forces” – stated Mr Suhas Chakma, Director of Asian Centre for Human Rights.



“The refusal of the army to be deployed directly led to increased loss of lives, displacement and consequent spread of hatred in the country. Both under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 wherein the Army operates in aid of civil power and the Sections 130 and 131 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the army is legally bound to obey the orders of the civilian authorities. By the time the Army moved in on 25 July 2012, about 44 persons were killed and over 200,000 were displaced. There must be accountability for such criminal dereliction of duty. ”- stated Mr Suhas Chakma, Director of Asian Centre for Human Rights.



ACHR’s report has been prepared following visit by researchers of the Asian Centre for Human Rights in the affected areas on 27-28 July 2012, followed by further visits on 11-12 August 2012 and 27-29 August 2012.



ACHR stated that a number of anti-tribal secular activists from mainland India and the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) have been distorting and misinterpreting facts that caused the riots and further interpret the riots along the communal lines.



The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) in its report accused the Bodos of engineering the riots by stating that “The Bodos need to be told firmly that they cannot under any circumstances engineer a mass exodus of non-Bodos. Nor would they ever get statehood this way.”



This statement of the NCM is self contradictory as the NCM further stated, “Had prompt action been taken after two Muslims were killed on 6th July, or after four Bodos were snatched away from the hands of the police and killed by Muslims, this conflict could have been avoided.”



“What the NCM failed to highlight is the fact that there was a gap of 14 days between the killing of two Muslims on 6 July 2012 and the killing of four Bodo tribals on 20 July 2012 and there were no riots during the intervening period. The riots actually started on 21 July 2012 following the lynching of four Bodo tribals by a mob belonging to the Muslims after snatching them from the custody of the Assam Police on 20 July 2012. If indeed the riots have started following the killing of four Bodo youths, could the Bodos be accused of engineering a mass exodus?”



ACHR lamented that a number of anti-tribal secular activists have described the riots as ethnic cleansing and the autonomous councils of the tribals as “incentivising ethnic cleansing” when both the communities were affected in the riots and each time the riots started and spread because of the abysmal failure of the State to enforce the law. Although Mr Anjan Pandit, Officer-in-Charge of the Kokrajhar Police Station and his police patrol party were witnesses to the lynching of the four Bodo youths after being snatched away from their custody on 20 July 2012, no one has been arrested so far.



ACHR stated that communal tension has been building up in Assam since the controversial marriage of Congress MLA Rumi Nath to a Muslim in May 2012. A section of political leaders of the ruling Congress who have been leading “Oust Tarun Gogoi” campaign exploited the situation to show the Chief Minister as an incapable administrator after the Chief Minister inducted his son as a member of the Congress Party in May 2012. The rising communal tension and the role of infighting within the ruling Congress to start the riots cannot be discounted.



Kokrajhar bore the brunt of migration/illegal immigration more than Assam:

Though illegal immigration based on 26 March 1971 as the cutoff date is not the immediate raison d’être for the recent riots in the BTAD, Kokrajhar district bore the brunt of migration more than Assam. Citing census figures, ACHR stated “During 1951-1961, Kokrajhar had a decadal growth rate of 46.44 against 34.98 in Assam while it increased to 54.28 (in Kokrajhar) against 34.95 (in Assam) during 1961-1971. For the period 1971-1991, the decadal growth rate of population in Kokrajhar district increased to 76.75% against 53.25% in Assam”. Kokrajhar reflects the trend of decadal growth of population of the BTAD.



Irrespective of whether the explosive decadal growth rate in Kokrajhar district was a consequence of migration and/or illegal immigration, its impact was clear: it caused massive land alienation amongst the Bodos in clear violation of the Chapter X of the Assam Land Revenue Regulation, 1886 that prohibits “transfer, exchange, lease, agreement or settlement any land in any area or areas constituted into belts or blocks” from tribals to the non-tribals in the areas notified as tribal belts and blocks. The number of non-tribal villages in the tribal belts and blocks has been increasing with impunity.

[G.Subramaniam]

achrweb



1. Prologue: Mainland India’s anti-tribal secular activists

Since 20 July 2012, the riots in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) consisting of Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar and Udalgiri districts, and neighbouring Dhubri district of Assam have claimed about 90 lives as on 31 August 2012 and displaced over 400,000 people. This internal displacement has been variedly described as the largest one since India’s partition and the affected areas have been visited by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, the current Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) LK Advani.



Some of the affected areas were also visited by Asaduddin Owaisi, a Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from Hyderabad and president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen on 28 July 2012 and in the first week of August 2012, and by the International Working President of the Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Pravin Togadia on 4 August 2012.



It did not take long to paint the riots in Assam as a “communal” one along the lines (Hindus vs Muslims) witnessed in mainland India for centuries. As a violent demonstration was held at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on 11 August 2012 to protest against the attacks on the Muslims in Myanmar and Assam (both unrelated) and over 50,000 people hailing from North East India fled from various States of mainland India due to the physical attacks and threats from religious fundamentalists, a riot that started over local disputes and extortion by the insurgents in Assam became the national issue. Illegal immigration of Bangladeshi Muslims became the hot potato though there is no evidence to suggest that illegal immigration was the immediate raison d’être for the riots.



The truth is: had the four Bodo tribal youths not been lynched by a mob belonging to the Muslims after being snatched from the custody of a police party led by Officer In-Charge of Kokrajhar Police Station and Deputy Superintendent of Police, Anjan Pandit on 20 July 2012, the riots would not have started in the first place. Even the killing of two Muslims on 6 July 2012 was attributed to the Kamtapuri Liberation Organisation by none other than Home Minister of India before the Rajya Sabha, Upper House of the Parliament.



Yet, the Bodo tribals (about 1.5 million in total in Assam), who are also religious minorities, were disturbingly demonised as some media and secular activists suggested that Assam riots were another Gujarat riots. The Bodos were accused of “ethnic cleansing” of the Muslims (about 10 million in Assam) - a war crime under the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court and the Geneva Conventions while Assam Government was accused of “incentivising ethnic cleansing”. If indeed the Bodo insurgents were not involved in the killing of two Muslims on 6 July 2012 and the riots sparked off following the killing of four Bodo youths, can the riots be described as ethnic cleansing by the Bodo tribals? It is true that in the riots that lasted over a month, both communities got involved and affected.



A number of secular activists, who otherwise never covered other inter-tribal riots, descended to Assam, and interpreted the riots to public through narrow prism of mainstream India’s narrative on majority and minority (Hindus and Muslims) and the 2002 Gujarat riots. Many described the Nellie massacre of 1983 as the handiwork of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) while the All Assam Students Union (AASU) was clubbed with the BJP and the RSS. That the Bodos started their movement against the Assamese domination was conveniently missed and all those who raised illegal immigration issue were vilified as “anti-Muslims”. This is despite fact that the decadal growth rate of population in Kokrajhar district was 76.75% against 53.25% in Assam during 1971-1991. Irrespective of whether the high decadal growth rate in Kokrajhar was a consequence of migration or illegal immigration, its impact was clear: it caused massive land alienation amongst the Bodo tribals in clear violation of the Chapter X of the Assam Land Revenue Regulation (ALRR), 1886 that prohibits acquiring or possessing “by transfer, exchange, lease, agreement or settlement any land in any area or areas constituted into belts or blocks” by non-tribals.



Even the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) erred on judgements and propriety while addressing the riots in Assam. Apart from the report being biased and self-contradictory, it inexplicably failed to include its member from the North East, Mr H T Sangliana in the team that visited affected areas on 11-12 August 2012 but had included Dr Syeeda Hameed and G B Panda from the Planning Commission.



The North East, because of its history, tribalism and contesting territorial claims together with the fear of losing identities with the loss of land, remains complex. But the illiteracy on the North East continues to plague mainland India. That the otherwise enlightened civil society is not an exception has come to the fore. In this extremely caste conscious society (identified through surnames) of mainland India, “Narzary” (a Bodo surname) and “Nazrul” (a Muslim name) are mistaken to be from the same community.



The riots in Assam were absolutely preventable but not prevented because of the criminal dereliction of duty by officials from the Officer-in-Charge of Kokrajhar Police Station to the highest authorities of India’s military establishment i.e. Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Chief of the Army Staff, Director General Military Operations and the Commander of the Eastern Command.



Obviously, there is a serious problem when a few secular activists actually laud the Mumbai Police for inadequate action against violent criminal acts unleashed at the Azad Maidan protest rally on 11 August 2012 where policemen were beaten, policewomen molested and their rifles snatched away. It is problematic because it is the same inaction that made the Bodoland an inferno – after all, it is the lynching of the four Bodo tribal youths after snatching them from police custody that sparked the riots. And none has reportedly been arrested so far for the murder of those four Bodo youths.



The inaction did not stop there. The Army stationed in the BTAD areas under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 and bound to act under the command of the Unified Command headed by Chief Minister of Assam refused to intervene until the second request was made by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 24 July 2012. By the time the Army started deployment on 25 July 2012, about 44 persons were killed and over 200,000 persons were displaced, and the damage was done.



Assam now faces threats of religious fundamentalism as never seen before. The unwillingness of the Government of India to rehabilitate the displaced Indian citizens at per with what is being provided to Sri Lankan Tamil displaced persons is being replaced by the charities of the religious fundamentalists. The misery of the displaced persons is being used to solidify political support base.



Ironically, a number of secular activists of mainland India blinded by their tunnel vision on secularism have also been contributing to communalisation of the riots in Assam; and they echoed the Muslim fundamentalists’ mis-propaganda about ethnic cleansing in Assam. Many of these secularists have conveniently forgotten that the Bodos are tribals and that non-tribals irrespective of whether Hindus, Muslims or Christians and whether Assamese, Bengalees or Haryanvis cannot purchase or become beneficiaries of transfer of lands as per Chapter X of the ALRR, 1886. Essentially many of these secular activists have turned out to be anti-tribal, not only for undermining their land rights recognised since the British period and the constitution of India but also by terming creation of the autonomous councils as “incentivising ethnic cleansing”.



Is the discourse on the rights of religious minorities vs the rights of the scheduled tribes in the context of North East India the new challenge of India’s human rights movement? Or is it a more fundamental problem - those blinded by groups’ interests do not follow the key principles of human rights activism: independence, impartiality and objectivity.







Suhas Chakma

Director

[G.Subramaniam]

For the first time, a human rights group has gone against the secularists

[G.Subramaniam]

Indian express



The Bodoland People’s Front, the party in control of the Bodoland Territorial Council, says over 39,000 non-tribal people, mainly illegal immigrants, have settled on 2.32 lakh bighas of government khas land in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts area. The party has cited these statistics in a list that The Indian Express has accessed from a senior leader.



“Most of the encroachers are illegal immigrants. We demand immediate recovery of khas land under the possession of the encroachers,” said BPF leader Darao Narzary. “If no action is taken the Bodoland Citizens’ Forum will move the Gauhati High Court. The illegal possession of tribal land by non-tribals is the reason behind the recent ethnic violence in the four BTAD districts. We have collected the details from the headquarters of the four districts, which shows that the government had full knowledge of land being grabbed but took no action,” he said.



1 bigha = 1340 sq.meters = 14400 sq.feet



x 200k = 300 sq.km encroached

[G.Subramaniam]

Assam Violence: Seva Bharati’s relief activity update; appeal for more help



August 2nd, 2012, 2:08 pm

Assam -August 2: The violence in Assam has subsided but the rehabilitation and other sewa activities has to start immediately. Following is the latest updates from Assam Sewa Bharathi pramukh Shri Surendra Ji.





Present condition and sewa activities:

1) Sewa activities is reaching more than 60,000 victims of riots

2) Victims have been provided with blankets, food, mosquito coils, note books

3) Medicines have been provided for fever, cough and other ailments and to avoid spread of contagious diseases

4) 3 Ambulances and 4 teams of doctors working round the clock to cater to the victims

5) Hindu families affected by the riots want to return home ASAP but are still in fear and are skeptical

6) Christian missionaries are gung-ho about this ‘opportunity’ and are in a over-drive (Sick but true)

7) Hindu and Bodo families are very thankful to the timely and quick aid provided by Sewa Bharathi

8) 2 truckloads of basic needs of kitchen utensils and cloths were arranged from local noble people and dispatched to the families of victims



Sewa and rehabilitation planned next Steps:

1) Start rehabilitation activities by August 5th. Until then the focus is on catering to the victims needs in refugee camps

2) Post August 5th rehabilitation of families has been planned as people are longing to return to their homes

3) Sewa Bharathi has a target to help 500 families to rebuild homes

4) Provide books and stationary to more than 5000 school going kids

5) Provide kitchen stoves and utensils to the familes once they return home

6) Try to keep unscrupulous elements (read missionaries) at bay from misusing the conditions of the victims



Material Requirements for rehabilitation:

1) 3 bundles of CI (Corrugated Iron) sheets for each of the 500 homes that Sewa Bharathi is targeting. Each CI sheet bundle costs anywhere between 12,000 to 15,000 or more

2) Atleast 500 Kitchen stoves

3) Atleast 500 sets of utensils with each set having 4 plates, 4 tumblers, 3-4 containers and ladles

4) 4 sets of clothes to each family i.e atleast 2000 sets of new clothes

5) Atleast 5000 sets of stationary with each having 2 notebooks, pencil and pen



Rehabilitation Costs Details:

Sewa Bharati is using its present resources now and is in need of money. All estimates are for the requirements mentioned above:

1) Rebuilding houses – 60 lakhs to 75 lakhs rupees

2) Kitchen stoves – 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees

3) Household utensils – 3 lakhs rupees

4) Clothes – 5 lakhs rupees

5) Stationary – 1 lakh 50 thousand rupees



Including the administration and running costs of the whole exercise the monetary requirement is above 1 crore of ruppes. But the immediate requirement of Sewa Bharati is about 50 lakh rupees.

[G.Subramaniam]

“Seventeen mosques and 20 makeshift madrasas in my village were destroyed. If not communal, what else should I call it, saab?” asked Jasimuddin, at a relief camp.

[G.Subramaniam]

At least 500 inmates staying in different relief camps in Dhubri district in Assam have gone missing and are suspected to have crossed over to Bangladesh after authorities started verifying antecedents of the victims of recent clashes between Bodos and immigrant Muslims.

[G.Subramaniam]

Hindus in Assam have to wage relentless struggles for survival



End of constitutionalism invokes bloody conflict



--



Unfortunate that the only reason that the Bodos beat back the islamists is by extra-constitutional means

[G.Subramaniam]

According to residents of Noapara, Sishubari and adjoining areas under Bijni subdivision in Chirang district, which falls under the North Abhayapuri Assembly constituency and Subhaijar BTC constituency, 49 voters among 308 were found sharing the same addresses as several Bodo, Rajbongshi and Assamese families in the 2010 Assembly election voter lists.

[G.Subramaniam]

When I read Tapan Ghosh's blogs, I realised that on July 23, just 3 days after the riots began, he wrote on his blog that the Hindus are winning. Meaning he has real-time intelligence on the field

[G.Subramaniam]

Tapan Ghosh - Friends, some are objecting the report "Assam will not turn into another Kashmir" posted on HS website. Regarding this objection we like to mention that really we have a different mind set and a different purpose. To show the world that hapless Hindus are being brutally tortured by the Muslims and get sympathy - is not our sole aim. Our ultimate aim is to give a stiff resistance, win the war and save our land. To achieve that aim, we think, only crying and screaming is not enough. To get sympathy it is ok. But to build courage and self confidence. some success stories too are needed. And these success stories must not be fabricated. The plains of lower Assam are almost a lost case. But, the tribal groups, especially the Bodos are putting a stiff resistance and acting decisively against the expansionist Islam. Why suppress this fact ? Suppressing this does not fit into our scheme of things