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| Nowhere to go: A woman with her child at a relief camp in Udalguri. A Telegraph picture |
Of all the states in India, perhaps Assam has the largest number of internally displaced people living in relief camps in different parts of the state. These internally displaced people have been uprooted from their hearths and homes on account of ethnic conflicts and violence that have visited Assam with regular frequency. Ironically, the government of Assam has no policy for tackling this major issue. The response has always been knee-jerk and a case of “too little too late”. It is a matter of grave concern that while India has a policy on dealing with refugees from Sri Lanka or the Tibetans, it has no blueprint for dealing with “people who are refugees in their own homeland”. It is, of course, no coincidence that the displaced people in Assam are largely tribal groups belonging to the “tea tribes”, a nomenclature for the different racial groups comprising the Santhals, Mundas and Oraons. Government statistics show that in the Bodo-Santhal clashes of 1996, the number of families displaced was 42,214, which adds up to 2,02,684 persons. The majority are Santhals. In the 1998 clash, 48,556 families were displaced, adding up to a population of 3,14,342. Hence, within a span of two years, nearly 5.5 lakh people were living in camps at some point and about 44,000 of them were children. While a good number has returned to their original homesteads, there are still about 23,000 families termed as encroachers who have not been able to resettle in their original habitats. Children have grown up in the most abysmal conditions and women have often been seen to venture out of the camps to earn something through prostitution. Food and other amenities are grossly inadequate. But the above two are not the only ethnic clashes that Assam has experienced. The horrific Nellie massacre of 1983 still haunts. Moreover, the Bodo-Santhal conflict resurfaced in 2004, leaving 37,000 people displaced. In 2005, the Karbi-Dimasa riot in Karbi Anglong district rendered 49,000 people homeless while the Karbi-Kuki conflict displaced 11,000 people. Then, in the Bodo-Muslim clash of October 2008 in Darrang district, 14,279 people were displaced from their hearths and homes. The ongoing ethnic clash between the Zeme Nagas and the Dimasa tribes, which started in February 2009, has claimed several hundred lives and razed an equal number of homes to the ground. Altogether 44,000 people are displaced in this most recent flare-up. Independent researchers put a rough estimate of about 1.5 lakh people living in different relief camps in Assam. This would easily make Assam the state with the highest number of people in relief camps, living in sub-human conditions. And now, to salvage the situation in North Cachar Hills, the government proposes to relocate 10,000 villagers from 40 villages in 12 safe clusters with six clusters for each tribe. This is the second time that the state is trying out a regrouping plan in the Northeast. It happened in 1967 in Mizoram for the first time when the state uprooted thousands of villagers and relocated them. The Mizos attribute the present state of corruption in Mizoram to this thoughtless relocation plan, which they claim has made the industrious Mizo people indolent and dependent on relief without working for a livelihood. In the relief camps for Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, the Centre provides resources for setting up schools, so much so there is cent per cent literacy among the inmates. There are vocational courses for livelihood skills training for women and men. Samuel Chandrahasan, who has spent almost three decades serving the cause of Tamil refugees, says, “We are grateful to the magnanimity shown by the Indian government and the state of Tamil Nadu. Now, with trained human resources, we can go back to rebuild Sri Lanka.” What makes it so difficult for the same government to think of its own displaced people? Is this because India is not aware of the problem of internally displaced people in Assam? Is it because this issue has never found mention in Parliament? So far, only the Lutheran World Service, a para-church organisation, which has also roped in other relief organisations from across the world, has done some solid work among the displaced people. They have meticulously studied the needs of this population through participatory rapid appraisals and narrowed down to a few basic necessities such as constructing temporary schools, and providing supplementary nutrition to students, training teachers and paying them honorarium. Above all, they have, in collaboration with the villagers, used the food-for-work model to build about 25-30km of roads reaching about 20 villages. Since the standing crops and stored seeds were destroyed, the Lutheran World Service provided seeds and fertilisers to families who returned to their homesteads after the conflict. Drinking water projects were implemented to ensure that people in camps do not contact water-borne diseases. Coming to the rehabilitation plans of the government, the faultlines are gaping. Those displaced from revenue villages received Rs 10,000 as rehabilitation grants. Others living in recognised areas and encroached forestlands received nothing. Ironically, those displaced in the Karbi-Dimasa and Karbi-Kuki clashes got a meagre Rs 1,500 as rehabilitation grant. Is there any justice in this rehabilitation package? Identity politics is a dangerous weapon of mass destruction in the Northeast. Instead of narrowing differences, it is creating bigger chasms that are difficult to bridge. Each dominant group uses identity as a springboard to electoral politics without a holistic approach to address the needs of the communities they claim to represent. Naturally, this waters down their arguments that they are victims of “Asomiya” prejudice. The Northeast dilemma is that every dominant group asserts its own brand of chauvinism. While we all accuse India of being a menagerie of unequal citizens, where race, place of birth and caste are prominent markers, the dominant communities of the Northeast do the same within their areas of influence. Dispur, for instance, would have shown more sensitivity and responded with greater alacrity if the displaced people were “Asomiyas” and one does not need to split hairs about what that means. Similarly, the Bodos who are responsible for the displacement of Santhals from large parts of Kokrajhar and Gossaigaon, are apathetic about the fate of those in relief camps. In the same manner, the Khasis and Jaintias of Meghalaya find it hard to co-exist with the Garos. Identity then is a major marker here. Today the “Asomiyas” are in combative mode on account of the silent influx from Bangladesh. They realise their safe little cosmos is no longer that safe. Some are beginning to believe in a concerted, inclusive effort to fight the illegal influx. But it seems like a tall order to bring people together on a common platform. The element of distrust is too strong among the different communities of Assam. But coming back to the problem of internally displaced people, it is time for human rights groups to take this issue seriously. How can people live in camps for a whole generation? What are the psychological and mental scars that they carry with them? How can they be physically rehabilitated, trained and counselled to live normal lives once again? Depending on relief agencies and international organisations to do what is essentially a state responsibility suggests a major flaw in thinking. Besides, there is such a thing as “compassion fatigue”. Can we stop talking about violence for now and concentrate on the victims of violence and what needs to be done for them? |