NDFB ATROCITY AGAINST ADIVASIS AND CALLOUS GOVERNMENT

NDFB ATROCITY AGAINST ADIVASIS AND CALLOUS GOVERNMENT

Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. It is people centered and people are the pivotal point of it. In short people are be all and end all of democracy. No doubt it is the best form of government of the day. And yet, it is the democracy that has made allowance for unbridled spawning of political parties, corruption, corruption, delinquency, negligence, violence, sabotage, connivance, ignoring of the suffering multitude, and other ills. In Indian context politics is no longer the career of the honest and altruistic humans.

Allegation and counter-allegations among political parties especially between the ruling party/parties and the oppositions pervade the whole of Indian political spectrum. Evidently, these incidents stem form the fact that our ‘honorable’ politicians find it extremely difficult to face up to the truth. How much of their harangue is meant for the constructive purpose – to rectify the mistakes and to set things right? does the righteous have a place in such a political system? Or does the righteous have a place in such a political system? Or does it taint even the righteous? The deceptive brand of the politicians who prey on the Indian political system are those who harbor no qualms for their abominable deeds. They gloss over the faults of their coterie: they contrive to distort facts. In one of the parties, which is more often than not the ruling party/parties, stand a chance to run the gauntlet this becomes a valid reason for stalling the assembly or parliamentary proceedings. Callous mind-set makes them inept to capture the ground realistic of events. This apart, no calibrated probing is carries out to detect the genesis of deplorable incidents.

In democracy the so called representatives of the people become less observant to the plight of the voiceless or to the grievances of the masses who fail to send sufficient shock-waves into the political nerves, and to nip in the bud certain potentially detrimental development in the society. Only the foolhardy acts of a firebrand or a dreaded militant out-fit can galvanize the otherwise disintegrated governors of democracy.

Another Assembly poll is around the corner in five federating states of India and all the national, regional and state level parties are vying to come to power. Parties without any clear-cut policies, criss-cross one another’s ideologies and ‘principles’. In the name of the run up to the election one-can hardy gauge the number of mendacious utterances and empty promises. While in the fray they tantalize the electorate with everything that is good, beautiful and enduring under the sun. The up-beat tone of election campaign seems to offer you all that your heart desires but for the elusive scepter of power that eludes them. Then comes the most coveted and eagerly awaited election result. Victory prompts the triumphant party (or parties keeping in view of unholy alliance) to a sumptuous celebration. The dust kicked up by electioneering settles down and you sink into oblivion for another five years.

One of the worst things that an incumbent government can do is to leave a legacy of rancor and hatred. Perhaps the most lightly taken by the Assam Government and yet an unprecedented blatant violations of human rights in the history of independent India has been the violence let loose on the hapless Adivasi populace by the Bodo militants, hand in glove with their civilian counterparts in the districts of Kokrajhar, Dhubri and Bongaigaon. Surprisingly enough, the blood letting began soon after Mahanta let Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) party was voted to power in 1996. What made the bad blood overnight between the two ethnic groups came like a bolt from the blue. But what made the whole scene a pathetic reading was the face that the government of Assam did not come forward to knock their (Adivasi & Bodos) heads together. Neither did it endeavor to probe the crux of the matter so that an amicable solution could be explored.

The Bodo population was obviously frustrated at the second coming of the AGP to power since its leadership was known for the adoption of puritanical stand on the Bodo issue. Therefore, the Bodo militant organizations strongly backed up by civilians embarked upon their premeditated action plan. In the thick of violence many thinking pragmatists rightly conjectured that the Chief Minister wanted to keep Bodo issue at arms length. To a leader who had weathered a hard time having to manoeuvre in a tight corner due to vexed Bodo demands during his previous tenure, the new development might have come as a heaven -sent boon. The large scale destruction and killing was to fetch the AGP leadership a new lease of political life; it would obviate much of the hard work and spare Mahanta from mind boggling mental gymnastic. Logically enough, the Bodo issue was, for a long time, put to rest and no one egged on the party high command regarding the same.

While Adivasi were caught unawares, overwhelmed by the nightmare of carnage and rampage, Bodos felt that they were out to realize their objectives. It was a case on felling trees in the name of aforestration: Bodos wanted to carve out their homeland by means of killing and driving out Adivasis form age-old environs. AGP government of Assam was a cold and mute spectator to this all. The dreams of Bodos were dashed to the backyard and they have never seen fulfilled to this day. But their dastardly acts have left Adivasis embittered and suspicious. Of late, Bodos have caught the green signal from the central government and entered into a utilitarian alliance with the AGP-BJP tie-up to keep the Congress (I) party at bay.

Regrettably, no one in the helm o affairs has delved deeper onto the heart-reading plight of Adivasi languishing in the relief camp of Kokrajhar and Dhubri districts since 15th May 1996. The mass media and the ‘worthy’ representatives of the people dismissed the Bodo violence as ethnic clash or ethnic riot. As a matter of fact there could not have been such a clash since one group was diametrically un-armed and the other armed with all possible sophisticated weaponry. The former being Adivasis and latter being Bodos, antithesis is borne out abundantly clear. Given the fact that Muslim community too had a couple of times been the soft target of the infamous designs of Bodo militants, one cannot rule out their attacks on Adivasis. In the days and months ahead of the perpetration of violence the Bodo civilians had either tricked away the traditional weapons of Adivasis or confiscated them on the plea that Adivasis might attack Bodos. Adivasis are by and large simpletons; they were lured into believing Bodos as their brothers. For their childlike trust on Bodos and for taking their word at its face value, Adivasis were paid off gravely.

In the first week of May, 1996 certain National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants as per their crafty plan captured three randy Bodo girls allegedly involved in illicit flesh trade in the hotels of Bhutan; and they were brought down to Assam. Those three girls were meted out with inhuman torture before the rogues put them to death. The mangled bodies of these three girls were thrown beside Satyapur, an Adivasi village three kilometers west of Gossaigaon town. On 12th May 1996 the villagers of Satyapur woke up to find severely mutilates bodies lying wrapped in traditional Bodo attire. The Bodo public squarely held the Adivasi of Satyapur responsible for the killing. Later in the day the three bodies were laid out for identification on a crossroad at Gossaigaon till the following morning, 13th May 1996. The sight of mangled bodies provoked the Bodo public beyond words. The desired purpose of the NDFB militants was achieved. At about 8 am on 14th May, 1996, the Bodo populace – civilians and militants took up arms against Adivasis. Soon the whole of Adivasi countryside in the districts of Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon were enveloped in smoke and the air was reverberating with the booming sound of guns. Bodo brutality knew no bound. It became akin to Hitler’s reign of terror when Adivasi leaders were seized by the legs, lifted high in the air, chopped up and thrown into leaping fire of the houses set ablaze. The exact number of casualties could never be accounted for nor could it be repated as some of the families had all their members slaughtered.

There were reports of systematic distortion of the exact casualty figure by means of burial, burning and casting the dead bodies into rivers with strong current. The whole of the predatory group followed the economic law of division of labor. They teamed up themselves in different ranks: to shoot and kill, to dispose off the killed dead, to make off with all the valuable things they came by and to set houses afire.

The melodramatic text would have been written off it the government of Assam was to magnanimously intervene the whole episode and rehabilitate the Adivasis. Even today Bodos breathe ominous threats on Adivasis if the latter have the audacity to return to their parentage habitation. The NDFB’s power to strike is still to be reckoned with as they had allegedly spearhead the lucrative timber trade from 1986 to 1997 with timber merchants of Bihar and West Bengal via Assam West Bengal border river resulting in the net profit of a few crores of rupees. After the militants have exploited the rich forest reserve to the fullest they bluster to ne playing their loyal guardianship and track down the innocent woodcutters. Whichever is the party to rule the roost in Assam’s political are after 13th May, 2001, if ignores the Bodo- Adivasi fall out the nagging problems between the two ethnic groups, at least in Lower Assam, is here to stay.