Some Political
Implications of Kokrajhar Riots
Archana Prasad
THE
fall out of the Kokrajhar riots has become
evident in the mass exodus and fear psychosis that has
plagued the people of
north eastern origin in cities like Bangalore,
Pune and Hyderabad.
Newspaper reports state that over 2.5 lakh people started a
homeward journey
after rumours spread about retaliatory violence in the wake
of the month long
Kokrajhar riots. More than 4.5 lakh people fled their
villages as a result of
the rioting in Kokrajhar. Of these, there are estimates that
more than 2.86
people remain in refugee camps in Kokrajhar, Chirang and
Dhubri districts. The
scale of the displacement, of both north easterners and
Muslims living in Assam has
ensured that the Bodoland issue can no longer be treated
merely as an assertion
of the rights of one ethnic group. Rather, the debate
surrounding it has come
to question the cultural pluralism that has characterised
the independent
Indian nation since its inception. It has also pitted a
linguistic and ethnic
minority against a religious minority group, thus
consolidating the power of
the ruling classes and religious fundamentalists.
‘FOREIGNERS’,
HINDUTVA
AND
BODOLAND POLITICS
In his
statement on August 8, 2012, the BJP
Rajya Sabha MP, Balbir Punj stated in parliament that “this
[the Kokrajhar
riots] is not a communal conflict, but a conflict between
Indians and
foreigners”. In
a similar vein L K
Advani stated in the Lok Sabha
that
“this is not a Hindu-Muslim issue, even though there may be
some truth in the
matter. The main issue is who is an Indian and who is a
foreigner. The
government must decide this and also deport the
Bangaldeshis”. Thus Tarun
Vijay, a part of the BJP’s delegation to Kokrajhar, writes
in the Organiser (August
13, 2012) that this
“is time for Hindu society to ponder over their decline and
why the foreigners
have gained so much of power to attack them in their own
land”. This
appropriation of the Bodos into the Hindu fold is not
surprising and is being
used to legitimise the intervention of fundamentalist groups
in order to expand
their social and political basis amongst tribal elites. The
vulnerability of
the Bodoland politics to such appropriation is evident in
the public utterances
of the leaders of the Bodoland Territories Autonomous
Districts (BTAD). They
have often been quoted as saying that they have been
“invaded by the
Bangladeshis” and routed from their own homes. They have
further asserted that
they would not allow the Muslim refugees to return to their
homes unless they
have verified their “citizenship”. Such an assertion has
only fed into the myth
of the foreign invasion that has been repeatedly used by the
RSS to expand its
influence.
[. . .]
Full text at: http://www.sacw.net/article2803.html
