By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: They have already witnessed the worst of their lives. If some have lost their parents, others have lost their kids that too without any fault. As if that were not enough of sufferings for these people. Now they are being ‘tortured’ by the negligence of the state government at Narayanguri Bhangarpar Bazar in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD).
These people, affected by some non-sensical activity of bloody violence triggered by armed miscreants in the area a few weeks back, have now resorted to hunger strike unto death to get their daily ration at their relief camps near their villages.
After failing to receive any food supplies from the district administration for the last several days, around 300 odd people including women and children have been sitting in hunger strike since Saturday braving the heavy rain.
“Firstly, the state government has failed to protect us from the bullets of miscreants and now they have even forgotten to provide us basic necessities. Life cannot be worst than this,” rued 35 year old Ramzan Ali, a resident of Nonke Khagrabari village, who has lost all his family members during the bloodbath. His wife, father mother and children were killed while one of his kids is still missing.
The hunger strike which was initiated by camp management committee is being joined by activists of All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU), All BTC Minority Students’ Union (ABMSU), farmers’ body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), Aboro Suraksha Samiti, Popular Front of India (PFI) and others. These days the inmates have been living on the food items provided by various NGOs, private parties and individuals.
The relief camp inmates sit in hunger strike
The people already plagued by number of problems also angered by the act of release on bail of 10 persons arrested in connection with the violence. They blamed police for framing weak cases against the accused and allowing them to seek bail.
“How could these persons, who were involved in the killings, get bail? Had police framed a strong case against them, they would not have got bail. This is a conspiracy to let them free. This is injustice. We have withstood untold suffering in the relief camps. However, releasing the accused has really let us down. We want the government to give us justice and dignity,” cried 65 year old Safaruddin.
They also slammed the state government for not arresting the prime accused Amiya Kumar Brahma, a forest official of the state government, in spite of knowing his whereabouts. With the government hardly taking any serious measures to control the situation, the youths living in the camp foresee a gloomy future. “We have no idea where we are heading like this. We have no security for our lives for our sisters, mothers and kids. We do not see any future like this,” said Jiarul Hoque (26), another inmate. Abdul Kalam Azad, who is leading a psycho-social support team from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in the affected areas, said conditions of the relief camps were deplorable.
“Food, lighting and security remain major concerns of the survivors. With the continuous rain, the situation has become worst with water entering inside the camps creating an unhygienic atmosphere for the people to live,” Azad observed.
On the crisis of food and other amenities in the camps, the district administration officials try to play the blame game. One official said that it was the Food Corporation of India (FCI) which delayed in
supplying the food stuff. The Gauhati High Court has granted bail recently to 11 persons arrested after the violence that rocked the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) in May.
The court granted the bail pleas of the 11 accused after examining the sections under which they had been charged. Those granted bail are Himagshu Das, Jayanta Bora, Anil Gayari, Manjit Brahma, John Gayari, dameshwar Basumatary, Bijit Borgyari, Mallajit Kherkatari, Sanjay Basumatary and Nijam Basumatary. The recent spell of violence in BTAD has witnessed the death of at least 45 villagers in two districts – Kokrajhar and Baksa.
Meanwhile, according to reports, the Home Secretary of Assam has directed the Assam Police to immediately move to Gauhati High Court for the cancellation of bails granted to the accused in the Khagrabari Massacre.