Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Burning Kokrajhar

The situation at Kokrajhar again demonstrated how thin the fabric binding different sections of people are in reality. It didn't take much time to spread the violence started with the killing of four youths. Now, there is an indefinite curfew on Kokrajhar, shoot at sight orders are already issued, large number of houses have been torched, attacks and counter attacks are going on... What more? Over 55,000 people left their home and currently staying at relief camps. Police found more than 27 dead bodies, many of them from the jungle, road sides and river banks. Violence is spreading to neighbouring Dhibri and Chirang districts. 

We are yet to learn the bitter lessons from history, which repeatedly showed us what could be the results of sectarian violence. Just imagine how fast the violence spread from one place to another. People are taking sides and jumping in, without understanding what really happened. This is the perfect example of how an incident like killing four youths from one community by people from another – for whatever reason - can spread to a wider area with highly magnified communal focus.

Punishment should be given to the people who did it; instead thousands of others who may not even know anything about it are forced to leave their home and property. Kids who are supposed to acquire knowledge in the safe school environment are now exposed towards this mind blowing violence.

Central government already moved in paramilitary forces to the affected areas; army also conducted flag march. But we have to take further percussions to stop this violence. Otherwise it will not only damage the human life and property but will further expand the already existing divisions. Mindless violence will also create deep scars in the minds of people which may take a long time to heal. So the government has to bring in maximum security forces to this area. As the violence and blockades on communal lines are affecting this area for a long time, we need to create permanent mechanism to handle the situation.

Sajeev.

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