In Assam's relief camps, the battle for life rages on

Bongaigaon District, Assam: The politics over ethnic clashes in Assam has spilled over to Mumbai with violent clashes between the police on one side, and protesters on the other. Thousands of kilometres away, in Assam, there is politics over the identity of those from the Muslim community in relief camps, with a majority of them now accused of being illegal migrants from Bangladesh. What's taken the backseat in this politicking is the condition of those living in Assam's relief camps, often without clean drinking water or medicines.

NDTV on visiting one of the relief camps found out that most of the people living there did not have any access to basic amenities. A majority of those living in these camps are children, and as many as 8000 of them are ill.

Rohina, a woman who escaped from her village in the Chirang district a week ago, is down with fever, Doctors came, gave her medicine, but they did not work. Now, she needs to be shifted to a bigger hospital, but people at the camp say they can't do so since there is no money to arrange for a vehicle.

Till about a week ago, there were just 117 doctors for the near four lakh people in Assam's relief camps. Now this number has increased to 270.

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"We are trying to visit at least two relief camps every day. It's been quite difficult for us. We cannot give attention to everyone here," said Dr Dipen Baruah, Nalbari Medical College, Government of Assam.

In the backdrop of this humanitarian crisis, a political game is also unfolding. Bodo leaders in Assam's troubled Kokrajhar area say only those among the Muslims with valid Indian identity papers should be rehabilitated. It's a view that has found acceptance both with the BJP and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who has promised that only Indian citizens will be sent back home from these relief camps. But can this distinction be made? Most people of the minority community in relief camps say their identification papers were burnt in the riots.

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"After systematically burning our papers, they accuse us of being Bangladeshi. Let the Bodo Leaders prove our identity. We voted for them. They will have our documents," said Shahibuddin, who is living at the Bidyapur relief camp.

The effect of this politics in Assam has already played out in Mumbai. The Home Ministry has put other states with a large student population from the north east, on a high alert, fearing attacks. But for those who have lost everything, returning home by August 15, as promised by the chief minister, may be easier said than done.