Well the problem is.................... The districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang and Udalguri (the latter three were recently created districts) are home to Bodos but also to Muslims, OBCs and other groups. In fact, much of the violence is centred around the perceived rapid growth of the Muslim population in the region. While Scheduled Tribes (mainly Bodos) constitute about a third of the population in these four districts, the STs have actually become a minority in the region, contributing to deep insecurities among the ethnic Bodos with regard to the Muslims. The history is that the Bodos, Assams biggest tribal group, have had bitter clashes with other Adivasis and the Muslim settlers (called thus because parts of Assam have seen years of migration from Bangladesh right since the 1950s). The 2012 violence was variously described as having begun over the Bodos destruction of a mosque or an under-construction mosque in Kokrajhar or as having begun after the killing of some BLT men by Muslims. Either way, public perception was largely that the skewed demographics of Assam, owing mainly to the continuing illegal immigration from Bangladesh -- the Bengali-speaking settlers are also called Bangladeshis -- were at the root of the ethnic violence.
Posted on: Mon, 05 May 2014 10:13:39 +0000