by Nirmala Carvalho

In Kokrajhar, the epicenter of the riots between Muslim settlers and natives, a Salesian priest describes the conditions of 15 thousand tribal refugees in the camps of the diocese. Burned houses, killed livestock and devastated land. The risk of spreading diseases, especially among the elderly, children and pregnant women.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - A "pathetic" situation of absolute "poverty and despair": thus Fr. Sebastian SBD, parish priest of Don Bosco of Kokrajhar, describes the condition of over 15 thousand tribal accommodated in 10 camps in the parish following the violence between indigenous Bodo and Muslim settlers to AsiaNews. Currently, tensions appear to have calmed, and P Chidambaran, the interior minister, is set to visit the people of Assam. Yet, the Salesian priest said, these people are facing "an uncertain future, bleak and grim, especially for their children. They have lost everything."

The riots erupted in the night between 21 and 22 July, when unidentified gunmen killed four young people in Kokrajhar district, an area populated by tribal Bodo. According to preliminary police reports for revenge, some tribes attacked Muslims, suspected of being responsible for the killing. Since then, violence has escalated, with different groups who have set fire to cars, homes and schools, shooting at people and among crowds. Between 22 and 23 July, the riots spread like wildfire, reaching the district of Chirang. The final toll is about 53 deaths and more than 170 thousand people (tribals and settlers) who have fled from their villages.

These days, Don Bosco Parish has set up 10 refugee camps, where over 15 thousand tribal Bodo found refuge and support. "The families - says Fr. Sebastian - have left the villages, bringing with them only the clothes on their backs, such was their fear. Their homes were reduced to ashes, their lands were ravaged, their cattle killed. These people are traumatized physically and psychologically".

Now the main danger concerns the spread of diseases, especially because the country is in the grips of the monsoon season. "We have  emergency tents - said the priest -, in which we distribute medicines, basic sanitation, clean water and clean sheets. Pregnant women, small children and elderly are most vulnerable, and we want to limit the contagion."

The northeastern state of Assam is not new to such violence. In general, the disorders arise from disputes of an economic nature, in which ethnic diversity is an aggravating circumstance. On several occasions, Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), a non-autonomous territorial authority that administers the Bodo-majority areas, has denounced the abuses committed by Muslim settlers, who illegally enter India from the border with Bangladesh and take possession of the land of the indigenous .

 

 

• india
• assan
• bodon
• indigenus
• muslim
• settlers
• violence
• refugee
• camps
• catolic
• church