Old fears and bitterness now resurface in Assam by Sanjoy Hazarika, 31 October 2008 http://www.sacw.net/article199.html
-------------------------- South Asia Citizens Web http://www.sacw.net Old fears and bitterness now resurface in Assam Asian Age The girl from a television channel in New Delhi was extremely enthusiastic on the phone. She wanted me to go on air the next evening on a live interview with another panelist on the situation in Assam — conveniently called the "Bodo-Muslim clashes". I debated the issue internally and finally decided that it was not appropriate to do so because the situation was so complex and difficult. Scholars and media who have visited the area, not armchair pundits sitting in New Delhi and Guwahati, say that it is clear that whatever triggered the violence earlier this month, the roots of the suspicion and bitterness are still untouched. A complex maze of factors have emerged at the heart of the problem, ranging from disputes over land and concerns about land alienation by different ethnic and religious groups, as well as fears of being driven out from their own villages. Muslim settlers, many of whom are originally Bengali-speaking but now have adopted Assamese as their language, are embittered by the fact that they are categorised as Bangladeshis despite having lived in the region for decades and remained poor and marginalised all this time. These groups have kept a social (...) Read more...http://www.sacw.net/article199.html -------------------------- Sent by : walilaskar ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
