Ima market of Imphal

Voices of Survivors

Anjuman Ara Begum

In any conflict women and children are the worst sufferers. Conflict makes a woman to suffer as victims, survivors, witnesses, negotiators, coping household heads. Women’s roles changes in conflict situation but not necessarily gender relations. Recent ethnic riots on BTAD areas are well known now to people. Electronic media brought the news to world over. As on August 31, 2012 about two lakh 50 thousand people were sheltered in school house turned relief camps. In the month of July 2012, the number of displaced people was about four lakh fifty thousand, largest displacement after independence as pointed out by many scholars.

As a part of the fact finding team I visited the affected area twice. Once as a part of the a peace and solidarity mission comprised of activists from all over India that visited the trouble torn areas of the Western Assam with the objective of ‘assessing the situation, meeting the inmates of both the communities in the relief camps, ascertaining specific vulnerabilities which need urgent attention and promoting peace and solidarity among the strife torn people’ on August 7 and 8, 2012. Later I visited again on August 30 and 31, 2012 along with the team of Harsh Mander as a part of the mission from Supreme Court’s Special Commissioner’s on Right to Food. This write up is a reflection of my meetings with the survivors.

First thing that attracted my attention was the camp infrastructure. ‘Never thought my school will turn into a relief camp and I will be the in charge of the relief camp’, said Manirul Islam, principal in charge of Bilasipara Public School on August 30, 2012. This school sheltered 3500 inmates and one of the overcrowded camps I visited. The camp has 13 tube well sets for drinking water and about 70 temporary constructed latrines.

In Chapar Girls High School, a school turned camp, I saw that female sleeping compartments are separated from men and usually about 50-60 women share the floor. A black plastic sheet was visible in the floor though it’s not enough to provide space to all the inmates to spread their legs at night. A child with high fever was sleeping in the floor. Mother of the child is seen sat beside the baby, completely without cloths. ‘Why don’t you cover the body with a piece of cloth?’ asked someone. ‘I hardly have a torn piece of cloth to cover him’, was the answer. The baby is in fever for last two days and is weak. Someone informed that two children died since they shifted to the camp 19 days ago. The only medicine available in the camp is for fever and some pain killer. Medicine with specific dose for children was lacking. So is the situation of pregnant or lactating mothers including women under menstrual cycle. ‘We hardly have anything to use during period. Its creating problems’, Said an inmate.

Most of the camp I visited was overcrowded together with health and sanitation problems. Women specific needs like sanitary pads or gynecological problems were not addressed. Fear psychosis among the inmates and uncertainty of return forced many to go into deep depression.  Several women were recent and lactating mothers. As per the interviews with the inmates, Bodo communities were brought to the camp to avoid any casualty while Muslims were in the camp after they were attacked and later houses were burnt. Both community reported of loosing domestic animals and reported of looting. Muslims reported of using of fire arms by the attackers. Till date more than 80 dead and several injured and about 5600 houses were burnt, informed some of the inmates.

I was touched by the survivors of violence. They were terrified and constantly thanking Allah for sparing their lives. Hasina (name changed) was observing Ramadan and the very first day of ramazan she has to run away for safety. She along with her family reached a school campus where hundreds gathered for safety. No security was provided to the school campus and so the group decided to go back to their native places and stay in groups for safety. Later, Hasina informed that she went back to a shelter camp and she came to know that her village has been completely burnt down.

An eye witness (requested anonymity) in Kokrajhar informed that several people gathered near Hekaipara mass grave (grave came out after killing of 41 Muslims in 2004) and requested SP to send security forces. SP assured to send security forces to the location mentioned but it was too late. Security forces reached after 3 hours and by that time four persons were already killed by the armed miscreants. Inhabitants of Hekaipara were later shifted to shelter camps by loading in trucks. Once the inhabitants left the village, their houses were looted and then torched. Dead bodies were collected after 48 hours. Fear and trauma spread among the residents. ‘Administration has no control over the situation and there is no security at all’, said the eye witness.

I met another woman named a Julekha Biwi ( name changed) is 19 years old and a mother for the first time. She could hardly wish to remember her first motherhood. She gave birth to her first child while running away for life. ‘I was so nervous that I don’t remember how all these happened. My sister in law knows the incident’. She said pointing at her sister in law. Her sister in law narrated that they took shelter by river side of Champa river while she gave birth. It was around 4 pm when she was preparing for iftar when she was instructed to run away along with her husband and other family members. Later the child was born. Then she took shelter for a night in another school and after a day sifted to the present camp. It can be easily presumed that she hardly had anything to eat.

In another camp I saw a woman crying inconsolably. Aruna Bewa ( name changed) had one son of 25 years who was killed with sharp knife. She saw the dead body after two days of his death and informed me that she doesn’t know where to go. ‘We have been asked to leave the school building within next three days. Where shall we go? Media never show our apathy. It’s a conspiracy against Muslims. Minister asked us to take the dead bodies to BLT office. How can a minister say like that? We were lucky that we could save our lives. If could have brought two of cows, we could have sell and atleast be able to serve our belly. We lost everything’.

Fear was equally prevalent in the camps that housed women from Bodo community. Rukmini Basumatary (name changed) camp said, ‘threat and provocative warnings from Muslim neighbours forced me to take shelter here. I never lived like this. I was told that police cannot provide us security and hence we were shifted here overnight by vehicles arranged by police. We are safe here but I want to go back home’, demanded Rukmini. Rukmini like many others had cordial relationship with Muslim neighbours before the recent displacement. ‘We had no problem with our muslim neighbours but some ‘outsiders’ created tension. What could the Muslims do? They are forced by the ‘outsiders’ who possess arms to become miscreants’. Police is also to be blamed according to Rukmini. ‘Some police official of Bhawraguri outpost incited the local Muslims to take arms and attack Bodos. Timely intervention by police/security forces could have saved us [from displacement]’. Similarly Lalita Narzary (name changed) who works in Social Welfare Department, too, lost her house in her village. ‘Nothing is left in my house. All burnt down. I ran out of fear. Later some neighbours informed that my house is reduced to ashes only’, lamented Lalita. In the same camp I saw a young boy who lost both his parents and he hardly knows where to go once the camp closes.

Fear, anxiety, uncertainty, physical–mental agony and tears are the only words that come to one’s mind after visiting these school turned relief camps in Chirang, Gossaigaon, Dhubri and Kokrajhar districts of Assam. I wonder why we like to see people suffering. In some reports, I read this conflict has been classified as ‘man-made conflict’. Why we made it instead of preventing it? Shall we have it again? Is there anybody to answer me?