Resources on Conflict in Bodoland, Assam


1. Assam in the centre
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/assam-in-the-centre/989232/
Despite protestations that it fights for the oppressed, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) of Badruddin Ajmal openly promotes “Muslims for the rights of Muslims”. The success of that campaign and the AIUDF’s subsequent emergence as the main opposition party in the state have deepened the communal divide, pushing the Congress into an alliance with the Bodo People’s Front and drawing the contours of a complex and loaded situation. says Seema Chisti.

2. Assam calls for a human response.
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article3731625.ece
Farah Naqvi says that India is yet to recognise the nature of targeted violence in law or uphold the inviolable rights of those uprooted in each such episode.

3. Riots & the bogey of Bangladeshis
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article3738939.ece
Many Muslims from erstwhile East Bengal settled in Assam in early 20th century. But vested interests are out to prove that their descendants today are illegal migrants, says Banajit Hussain.

4. Anger against media for ‘poor coverage’ of Assam
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3754980.ece
There was much anger against the media for what protesters said was “poor” coverage of the violence against Muslims in Assam and Myanmar, says Rahi Gaikwad.

5. The illegal Bangladeshi immigrant: Do the bogeyman numbers add up?
http://www.firstpost.com/india/the-illegal-bangladeshi-immigrant-do-the-bogeyman-numbers-add-up-419971.html#.UC0NaW4IFpZ.facebook
Bodos don’t want to talk about all the groups that want a piece of the Assam pie. And Muslims would rather play the victim card than talk about the political ambitions they think their demographic numbers entitle them to and which they feel they are deprived of because of seats reserved for tribals. But who wants to talk about all those complex and touchy issues? It’s much easier to blame the Bangladeshi bogeyman, says Sandip Roy.

6. The Myth of the Bangladeshi and Violence in Assam
http://kafila.org/2012/08/16/the-myth-of-the-bangladeshi-and-violence-in-assam-nilim-dutta/ 
As for the people themselves, it would be worthwhile for them to discard communal and ethnic prejudices which are essential for harmonious co-existence. Assam never was a religiously or ethnically homogeneous entity and never will be , concludes Nilim Dutta.

7. Land of discord
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/land-discord
Origin of the relentless strife in Bodoland lies in a series of blunders, right from colonial times says Arnab Pratim Dutta.

8. From crisis to opportunity
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120802/jsp/opinion/story_15799551.jsp#.UC36htPDi5k
To stop the cycle of violence in Bodoland, old issues must be addressed, writes Jamal Kidwai.

9. Flaws of the accord
http://m.indianexpress.com/news/flaws-of-the-accord/982588/
Deepak Singh says that The Bodo Territorial Council act is the primary reason for current tensions between Bodos and non-Bodos.

10. Assam’s sorrow
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article3683327.ece
Often enough in much of Assam, all that it takes to set alight the sub-surface nodes of volatility is a mere spark, says Editor of Hindu.

11. Stop Assam’s sparks
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/dc-comment/stop-assam%E2%80%99s-sparks-878
Our tendency to accept political violence as a routine matter is dangerous. Hooligans from a wide array of political outfits routinely indulge in violence and get away with it says Editor of Deccan Chronicle.

12. Please come back
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article3785888.ece
As students and workers from Assam and other north-eastern States flee south Indian cities fearing ethnically-targeted violence, India’s tenuous social fabric is once again under severe strain says Editor of Hindu.

13. Violence in Bodo Areas: Deciphering The Causes
http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/ViolenceintheBodoAreas_NamrataGoswami_090912
The need of the hour therefore is to activate a clean and transparent record keeping of land by the state so that violence based on the fear of outsiders forcibly taking away the most precious commodity, land, is effectively averted, concludes Namrata Goswami.

14. What lies behind Assam violence?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-18993905
India’s north-eastern state of Assam is a veritable tinder-box. So why does it periodically erupt into violence and blood-letting? questions Subir Bhaumik.

15. Outbreak of violence in Mumbai
http://twocircles.net/2012aug17/outbreak_violence_mumbai.html
Though it is not true that Bangladeshis are migrating in large numbers (this is largely the Sangh Parivar propaganda) by unfortunately Bodos, in order to fulfill their ambition of Bodo-land and for evicting Bengali Muslims and other ethnic communities from the 4 districts of Bodo Territorial Council, are using this propaganda for their own purposes, says Asghar Ali Engineer.

16. How not to read the current crisis
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/272632/how-not-read-current-crisis.html
The issue of people from the North-East fleeing from many of the metropolitan cities where they study or work in large, unprecedented numbers raises many questions that requires both immediate responses and long-term appraisal says Goulan Naulak.

17. Should shoot at sight orders be given on Indo- Bangladesh borders?
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/masala-noodles/entry/should-shoot-at-sight-orders-be-given-on-indo-bangladesh-borders1
Some analysts argue that if illegal immigration cannot be halted then part of it could be legalized by issuing work permits to a specified number of those coming year. Those with work permits will not be enrolled as voters. This will suit the immigrants too because none of them come into become voters, they merely come to look for opportunities for employment, suggests Kingshuk Nag.

18. ‘Stateless’ remedy to illegal problem
http://www.asianage.com/columnists/stateless-remedy-illegal-problem-829
Halfway through my tenure in Assam, Tarun Gogoi became the chief minister. He issued statements to the press about what he referred to as my constitutional impropriety in raking up Bangladeshi migrants’ issue, says S K Sinha, Ex Governor of Assam.

19. Why blood will flow in Assam again
http://tehelka.com/story_main53.asp?filename=Ne180812Why.asp
The Assam riots were not the result of a sudden reaction, but an accumulation of years of anger and insecurity. Unless lessons are learnt, they will happen again.Ratnadip Choudhury and Avalok Langer report.

20. Our heart must bleed for everyone… not just for Muslims
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/article3792355.ece
Have you ever seen Arab Sheikhs protesting the killing of Muslims in Myanmar or their citizens? questions Adnan.

21. Assam:Demographic invasion
http://bangladeshwatchdog.blogspot.in/2012/08/assam-demographic-invasion.html
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, concludes K P S Gill.

22. The Quickfix Syndrome
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?281844
Land is finite but political and economic benefits can be shared. Gogoi’s real test will lie in bringing leaders of the communities together to respect existing realities. Perhaps an SC-backed reconciliation effort, a process mandated by the court with appointed mediators, can have a role says Sanjoy Hazarika.

23. A Turf War
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?281788
The aftermath of the rioting in Assam has led to one of India’s largest humanitarian crises, with more than 400,000 men, women and children living in nearly 300 ill-equipped relief camps , says Wasbir Hussain.

24. Assam riots and dilemma of the Indian secularists
http://sevensisterspost.com/assam-riots-and-dilemma-of-the-indian-secularists/
As romanticism withseparatism fades away and the people of the Northeast gradually integrateto mainland India, the secularists from the mainland who do not understand the difference between “Narzary” and “Nazrul”, must not further contribute to the renewed marginalisation through narrow interpretation of secularism, concludes Suhas Chakma.

25. Dissecting the Bodo-Muslim Clashes and Attacks on North-East People
http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article3665.html
Now the government will be engaged in Pakistan-bashing and soon the people of the North-East will be forgotten; not that anyone tried to understand their grievances even when they said their hearts went out to our “North-East citizens”, says Nandita Haskar.

26. The 50-50 shot.
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282078
Gogoi’s Hindu card gamble is biting back—with the Bodos , says S N M Abdi.

27. Knowing us, knowing them.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/knowing-us-knowing-them/992264/0
The Assamese are conscious of non-northeastern variety. We have no trouble identifying the Bengali of Kolkata, who speaks a more ear-pleasing version of the language the migrants use at home. We know someone from the southern states is always a Madrasi. He is different from the desuwali, who speaks Hindi and goes on vacation to his des at the end of every 11 months, says Kabir Firaque.

28. Every industry should hire northeast people

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/Every-industry-should-hire-northeast-people/articleshow/15730229.cms
Filmmaker and companion of late Assamese poet and singer Bhupen Hazarika, Kalpana Lajmi wants a team from the Hindi film industry to visit the northeast on a peace mission. She tells Bharati Dubey that it’s high time the rest of India opened its arms to the region

29. Lasting Solution A Long Way Off
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282005
Former Assam chief minister and AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) President Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, though reluctant to get into the blame game (“it’s difficult to say or comment”), suggests dialogue is the only way to negotiate the minefield that is Assam today. He spoke to Uttam Sengupta.

30. Northeast panic suggests social media should consider regulating itself in crisis.
http://www.im4change.org/rural-news-update/virtual-fires-pratik-kanjilal-16722.html
Add a malicious payload, push it out on Web and SMS networks and you have a social engineering weapon capable of triggering or sustaining unrest, says Pratik Kanjilal.

31. Loops And Holes In The Narrative
 http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282076
Bengali-speaking Muslims discover no proof is enough to dispel doubts says Uttam Sengupta.

32. Exodus 2012: Rout Cause
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282077
It wasn’t just rogue SMSes that fuelled the northeasterners’ flight from the IT cities says Pushpa Iyengar and Madhavi Tata.
 
33. There We See Only The Stumps
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282079
The discourse has moved past Bodo-Muslim clashes, what we are seeing in Assam is ethnic cleansing, says Kishalay Bhattacharjee.

34. A Foreign Hand From The East
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282075
Communally-inclined parties find Bangladeshis a rallying factor says Saba Naqvi with Debarshi Dasgupta and Toral Varia Deshpande.

35. Illegal migration not a bilateral conflict
 http://bangladeshwatchdog.blogspot.in/2012/08/illegal-migration-not-bilateral-conflict.html
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni speaks to Barkha Dutt, an Indian television journalist and Group Editor with NDTV on the issue of migration from  Bangladesh to India  and water sharing treaty between the two countries.

36. Ethnic violence in Bodoland
www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/…/Ethnic_Violence_in_Bodoland.pdf
Ethnicity and identity have been the key issues of mobilisation  in all of north-east India. The  region has had a long history of being marginalised; its inclusion in the Indian nation is seriously challenged by communities; and identity politics has shaped the politics of resistance. The struggle for power, both political and economic, has thus become bloodied. What lies behind the recent violence in Assam? The failure of the Sixth Schedule to deliver, the contest over and and resources, the lack of development, and the fear of disempowered smaller groups are all tangled in the web of electoral politics of the ruling classes., says Suryasikha Pathak.

37. No sense of belonging.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/ColumnsOthers/No-sense-of-belonging/Article1-916329.aspx
The exodus underlines an uncomfortable truth: that many of the migrants feel either insecure or socially unaccepted in these urban centres, writes Sanjoy Hazarika.

38. Conflict country
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-26/special-report/33401568_1_shillong-manipur-coexistence
This is a migration very few know of or care about. But a staggering 1 million people may have been forced out of their homes in the northeast in the past 20 years alone. And the displacement continues. Whenever it is geography, not shared history or culture that binds men, the coexistence is bound to be tremulous and uneasy, reports Anand Soondas.

39. The good, the bad and the downright ugly
http://www.timescrest.com/coverstory/the-good-the-bad-and-the-downright-ugly-8565
The best of times has turned into the worst of times for the North-East. The cheers of national pride for Olympian boxer Mary Kom have been drowned out by ugly ethnic threats. It’s time to go beyond quick-fix solutions, writes Sanjoy Hazarika.

40. A Never-Ending Strife
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?281841
An overview: from the past to the trigger this time, by Uttam Sengupta.

41. Starting the fire.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/BarkhaDutt/Starting-the-fire/Article1-915259.aspx
The recent strife in Assam and ripple effects in the rest of India point to an insidious game being played by extremists, says Barkha Dutt.

42. The Assam Tangle
 http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-assam-tangle/993140/0
The recent violence in Kokrajhar and its spillover in other states reflect Assam’s unique problems- decades of insurgency, a porous border and territorial wrangles.Add to that government derelict, says Samudra Gupta Kashyap.

43. Variety of cultures, united in fear
 http://www.indianexpress.com/news/variety-of-cultures-united-in-fear/990408/
Attacked, threatened or fleeing, they belong to various N-E states and mostly to communities with no link to Assam srife.A few examples, by John Bosco Tirkey & Nathanel Dang from Karbi Anglong , Jintu Deuri from Assam and Mukut and Jwna Daimary from Assam.

44. Hate begets hate
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/Columns/Hate-begets-hate/Article1-916730.aspx
It is long overdue that the people of this vast diverse nation affirm that nothing — nothing — can justify communal violence, says Harsh Mander.

45. An unending tragedy
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/903870.aspx
This has been ’s season of unending horror which began with a ferry mishap in lower followed by a devastating flood (it’s the first surge, three more are yet to come), the Guwahati molestation shame and now the riots in the Bodo areas, says Sanjoy Hazarika.

46. The Bloodlands of Assam
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/assam-violence-ethnic-riots-tarun-gogoi-upa- government/1/211647.html
Besides administrative and intelligence inputs, the Chief Minister chose to disregard two reports from senior Congressmen who visited Kokrajhar after the July 6 killing of the two ABMSU leaders. On July 7, Kokrajhar district Congress chief Lohendra Basumatary and Assam Pradesh Congress Vice-President Y.L. Karna had pressed Gogoi to deploy paramilitary troops to pre-empt an escalation in violence, in vain says, Kaushik Deka and Asit Jolly.

47. In The Beginning Was The Loaded Word
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282211
How can a human being be ‘illegal’? How the language of dehumanisation is fuelling the Assam crisis, questions Yasmin Saikia.

48. Why Maps Can’t Redraw The Truth
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282264
India’s citizenship laws were ambivalent on cross-border migration. Assam bears the brunt of it, says Sanjib Baruah.

49. Pulling Assam back from the abyss
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article3908168.ece
A call by policymakers, scholars, activists and intellectuals on the situation in the State.