Stories that Matter

Abdul Wahab continues moving as Brahmaputra follows him Goroimari, Kamrup, Assam: Abdul Wahab is a retired school teacher and now 66 years old. He lives with his family in Goroimari Satra village under Chaygaon assembly constituency in Kamrup district of Assam. Like other thousands of displaced people in Assam, Abdul Wahab kept moving from one place to another to save his life and property and his family as the mighty Brahmaputra River continued gulping village after village in the riverine areas. ‘I shifted my house eleven times and still not sure when I have to move again’, said Abdul Wahab sitting on a wooden bench in Goroimari market. Wahab smiled when asked ‘are you not tired of shifting your belongings so many times?’ His reply is simple, ‘what else to do? Life goes on’. Abdul Wahab Wahab is the son of Late Abdur Rehman and late Rabiya Khatun of Piredhara village near Mukalmua under Nalbari district. He was born and brought up there. He completed his tenth standard from Piredh

Extraordinary stories of ordinary women W omen TCN Special Series: Part IV on Jayanti Keishing By Anjuman Ara Begum, TwoCircles.net, Jayanti Keishing, 64-year-old lady, is the chief secretary of the Action of Women in Development, an Ukhrul-based NGO in Manipur that works on food and livelihood security and women in governance covering five villages. She is married to Ngaithang Keishing and is mother of two daughters and four sons. Jayanti was the eldest of seven siblings and currently she is grandmother to eight grand children. She shares her highly motivating and inspiring life and work with  Anjuman Ara Begum of TwoCircles.net. How do you remember your childhood? I was very adventurous and extrovert. I was a tomboy and used to fight with boys. I didn’t like to be controlled. I was very good in studies and was always the first since I was admitted in school. When I was about seven or eight years old, one day my mother asked me not to go to school. I thought I would miss my school o

Veterinary Complex relief camp inmates building new lives Chirang, Assam: Several people belonging to the Santhal or the Adivasi community were also displaced in Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon area in 1998. Some of these inmates belonging to Adivasi community are lodged at Veterinary Complex relief camp near Bengtal in Chirang district. ‘We were targeted in 1996. Our original village is on the other side of the river Aai. Part 1, Aai Dhubri is our original village. We still have land there. I pay tax for my land but I have no possession. People in this camp are from Patabari, Ouguri, Part 1, 2, 3 Aai Dhubri etc. I know who took my land. I did census duty and I worked there in my own village. It is very sad for me to see that my land is occupied by someone else. We cannot go back. I had 72 bighas of land’, shared Bhaiya Soren, an inmate of the camp. Newly built houses of the inmates of Veterinary Complex relief camp Inmates informed that they were displaced on November 19, 1996. They said

Bordhup camp inmates starving, authorities unconcerned Bongaigaon, Assam: According to a September 2010 report by Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre ( http://www.internal-displacement.org ), conflicts in north-east India have displaced 208,000 people: * 47,000 people were displaced by Bodo-Muslim and Bodo-Santhal violence in 1993, 1996 and 1998 and are staying in camps in Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon districts of Assam state (ACHR, 6 June 2009; ACHR, 19 November 2009); * 125,000 people were displaced by Bodo-Muslim violence in 2008 staying in camps in Darrang and Udalguri districts of Assam state (ACHR, 6 August 2009; AITPN, June 2009); * 4,000 people were displaced by violence between Khasis and Nepali-speakers in 2010 in the Assam-Meghalaya border region (Nepalnews, 21 May 2010); * 31,703 Brus were displaced from Mizoram state to Tripura state in 1997 and 2009 (PTI, 15 August 2010); Violent ethnic conflicts took place in Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon and the present Chirang districts

Four Bodo women killed for ‘witch practice’ in Assam Guwahati: A total of four killings took place in last four days in the district of Kokrajhar, Assam. Four women of Bodo community have been hacked to death in the district since April 15 and all the deaths are the result of the practice of witch hunting. Purni Basumatari, 57, and Modani Basumatari, 55, were beaten to death in Belguri Guwabari village on April 15, and Bifula Narzary, 49, was killed in Bosabeel village the next day. According to media sources, a group in a fresh case of witch-hunting on the night last Sunday brutally killed a person with sharp weapons and the body was recovered this morning on the bank of Bholjhora river in Charaikhola area under Kokrajhar police station. The victim has been identified as one Sorak Narzary (50) of Samthaibari village. Earlier on January 1, a couple — Sarat Bindo Hazowary, 65, and Tapashree Hazowary, 52, — were killed in Habrubeel village of the same district. Witch hunting is an evil

Women bodies, activists condemn ‘witch’ killings in Assam Guwahati: More than 50 human rights bodies and individuals in Assam yesterday condemned the recent killing of four women as a result of the evil customary practice of witch hunting and demanded immediate action from the government to provide safety and security to women in the affected districts. A total of six deaths have taken place in last three and half months this year. Four women have been hacked to death in Kokrajhar district in between April 15-18 and all the deaths are the result of the practice of witch hunting. Purni Basumatari, 57, and Modani Basumatari, 55, were beaten to death in Belguri Guwabari village on April 15, and Bifula Narzary, 49, was killed in Bosabeel village the next day. Another woman was killed in Samthaibari village on Sunday. Earlier on January 1, a couple — Sarat Bindo Hazowary, 65, and Tapashree Hazowary, 52, — were killed in Habrubeel village. The groups expressed that the UN Convention on the

Muslim women have no place in Assam state’s politics By Anjuman Ara Begum, TwoCircles.net, ‘Women are created by the Almighty for rearing children... they are not supposed to ride horses, firing guns or selling liquor or making speeches in the parliament,” said a Janab in Allahabad. (Source internet). Women in India constitute nearly half the population of the country but their representation in politics hardly reflects their percentage in population. Women representation in governance and decision making bodies is as low as invisible. Political participation and representation of women in India remained marginalized in last 14 general elections so far reflects a low representation of women in Parliament, State legislatures, in political parties and other decision-making bodies and women are having less than 8% of Parliamentary seats, less than 6% Cabinet positions, less than 4% of seats in High Courts and the Supreme Court, have been occupied by women and less than 3% of the adminis