Villagers at the relief camp are too scared to go home
The threat of violence still haunts the districts of Kokrajhar and Baksa in Assam.
After ethnic clashes in 2012 killed over a hundred locals and displaced lakhs, the volatile region recently witnessed another spate of targeted killings. (
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42 people were killed in the violence, according to official figures, while 10 are missing and feared dead. Bodies of the victims are still being recovered.
Of the 42 victims, 17 were minor children; most of them were under the age of five.
Militants from the National Democratic Front of Bodoland are suspected to be behind the violence. (
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But affected villagers blame the Bodoland People's Front and Hagrama Mohilary, chief of the Bodoland Territorial Council, for the violence.
Narayanguri village in Baksa district was among the worst affected. The village lost over 30 residents to the violence; most of its houses were burnt down. (
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The displaced villagers have been shifted to the Bhangarpar relief camp.
498 displaced villagers and at least 200 children are currently living in this relief camp.
Poolmala Khatun, 22, lost her nephew, niece, sister-in-law and mother in the violence.
Ajuba Begum, 31, lost her children to a hail of bullets while she was fleeing the village.
Both of them are too scared to go back home. (
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As a first step towards rehabilitating the displaced villagers, the district administration and the State disaster Response Force personnel are currently trying to re-build their houses.
The most disturbing - and unanswered - question here is why innocent children continue to fall prey to the state's unending saga of insurgencies and ethnic clashes.