Homeless in Kokrajhar

A road slices Gokulkata village in Kokrajhar into two. On one side lived its Muslim residents, on the other the Bodos. But after four days of rioting, no one lives here any more.

What's left in Gokulkata are rows of burnt houses. The houses with bamboo poles and tin shades have been reduced to ashes while the once-concrete houses are now just sooty walls. Bodies of dead ducks and goats lie amongst the debris. The living have all fled and no one knows when they will be back.

In the past week, villages across Kokrajhar have emptied out, leaving behind burnt homes and an eerie silence.

On Wednesday, Idris Ali walked 35 km with seven others from his family and four cattle from his village Sapkata to the Hatidhura relief camp, only to find it full. So, he continued walking, looking for a relief camp that would take him in.

Ali says the attack on his village last week looked like it had the patronage of the administration. The attackers, he says, came in green camouflage outfits and were seen talking to local security forces before they targeted Muslim houses.

At Tamahata relief camp, Azizul Haque from Moktaigaon village relives the attack that nearly killed him. "I was fired at from close range and a bullet grazed my stomach. I was taken to Gosaigaon hospital first and then to Kokrajhar hospital where again a group of Bodo youth attacked me. I am alive only by Allah's grace," says Haque.

At another relief camp in Jaraguri in Gosaigaon block of Kokrajhar, where 3,400 Bodo refugees are taking refuge, Longshri Basumatary of Burichitam village is still perplexed over how the relationship between the two communities soured so quickly. "We had extremely cordial relations with our Muslim neighbours. We used to go to their houses, have tea with them, share meals with them and they too would come over to our homes. The same people set fire to our houses and drove us out," she says.

... contd.

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