By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

GUWAHATI, India – In the northeast state of Assam, India, violence erupted between Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh and Bodo tribal groups on Friday resulting in almost 50 people dead, 500 homes set on fire, and more than 85,000 displaced and seeking housing in government relief camps.  Twenty-one thousand paramilitary officers were deployed to the three districts that have been affected in addition to the already-imposed curfews and shoot-on-sight orders.  More than 15 of the killings were done in police firings.

The conflict has arisen from a history of the local tribes’ fear of being overrun by Muslim immigrants. Almost half of Assam’s population are Muslim settlers.  Analysts claim that the clashes were sparked by a student movement campaigning ainst the immigrants.

Despite the history of tension between Muslims and Bodo tribes, state officials blame the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) for fueling the violence.  NDFB is a Christian rebel group that wants independence and secession from India.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, a minister supervising security and relief measures, says that the NDFB has implemented a plan of “ethnic cleansing” in order to “drive out all the non-Bodos from the area.”  Moreover, in 2005, the NDFB entered into a ceasefire with the Indian government in New Delhi, though it has never renounced its independence struggle.  It claims that the government has neglected their welfare, ignored development of the region and flooded it with immigrants.

Sarma stated that four cadres of the NDFB were arrested on Sunday for firing at the police with machine guns in one of the districts and that if NDFB members continue to engage in violence, then the government might have to reconsider the ceasefire agreement.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Troops Sent to Quell Tribal Clashes in India’s Assam – 6 October 2008

Assam Tribune – Death Toll 40:  80,000 Displaced:  500 Houses Burnt – 6 October 2008

Reuters – More Die as Clashes Continue in India’s Troubled Assam – 7 October 2008