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Sectarian Violence in Assam

Political ill games behind carnage

Star Desk
Officials in Assam have said 43 people were killed, mostly Muslim women and children, in a spate of attacks by suspected tribal militants as a weeks-long general election re-opens ethnic divisions.
The Hindu, in it's editorial, has said the violence is a deadly reminder of systematic efforts towards ethnic cleansing that is under way in that area.
And the timing of the attacks has also raised questions.
Assam has a history of sectarian violence and armed groups fighting for greater autonomy or secession from India. In 2012, clashes erupted in which dozens of people were killed and 400,000 fled their homes.
Police suspect militants from the Bodo tribe were behind the latest attacks in a region where tension between ethnic Bodo people and Muslim settlers has simmered foryears.
But the difference this time is that the atmosphere has been vitiated seriously in the context of elections. Media reports said Muslim villagers were targeted as a punishment for not voting for candidates backed by the rebels.
In a manifesto released for Assam in April, the State BJP unit made a potentially incendiary promise that it would identify and expel all illegal immigrants staying in Assam — but with a caveat. It promised to protect Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and members of the Scheduled Gastes who have come there from Bangladesh following "religious, political and social persecution", and not to treat them as illegal migrants.
Even, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has repeatedly said that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in the nearby state of West Bengal should have their "bags packed" in case he came to power, accusing the state government of being too soft.
Meanwhile, survivors claimed to have identified some of the attackers as surrendered militants of the erstwhile Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT). The Bodoland People's Front (BPF), formed by former leaders of the BLT, that holds the reins of the Bodoland Territorial Council, is also a coalition partner of the Congress in Assam but has indicated it might team up with the BJP, post-election. Significantly, BPF legislator Pramila Rani Brahma had alleged that its candidate for the Kokrajhar constituency was likely to lose as a majority of Muslims did not vote for him. The constituency has about six lakh Bodo voters, nine lakh nonBodo voters, and four lakh Muslim voters.
Narrow election-related interests have complicated the situation, yet it is important that the investigating agencies are able to identify the culprits and reassure the minority communities of the safety of their lives and property. Urgent steps are needed to ensure their security and protection.