Ethnic Clashes Between Bodos and Muslims

Bodoland is made of four districts-Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Chirang and Baksa.  The area has been gripped in a serious ethnic violence since many years. They have been further aggravated by militancy. There are several reasons for these clashes.

The relations between Bodos and Muslims has been strained since late 1980s when the Bodos started resisting the Muslims to settle down in the Bodo Heartland. On one hand, they were demanding the separate Bodoland while on other hand they suspected that they would be marginalized and would be turned into minority in their own land by Muslims and infiltrators from Bangladesh.

After the formation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), it was well understood that the political rights in the area rested with the Bodo tribe and not the non-Bodos. This did not augur well with the Muslims and non-Bodos. Thus, the resentment grew – why only Bodos have fun? The non-Bodos contend that only Bodos now enjoy exclusive rights over government jobs and mostly benefited from all government welfare schemes in BTC areas.

On the other hand, Bodos say that even after they have won social and political dominance, they live in fear of becoming a minority in their own land and thus try to dominate smaller factions.

In summary, the violence is electoral rather communal. The deliberate ignorance by state leads to frequent spate of violence. The political masters have thus refused to pay any heed to the growing lawlessness which has taken lives of many innocents and also displaced an entire community.