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Assam government seeks
Church support
for victims of violence
The government of Assam state has sought Church support
to help victims of the conflict between ethnic Bodos and Muslim
migrants that has left at least 80 dead and more than 400,000
homeless. “Government officials are now contacting us to speed
up the rehabilitation of the people,” said Bishop Thomas Pulloppillil
of Bongaigaon, the diocese that includes the troubled region. For
more than a month, the Kokrajhar district has been the scene of
ethnic clashes, with armed mobs of both communities plundering
and burning the other’s properties.
“I am looking for civil society support without community
bias,” Vinod Seshan, one of the senior officials in Kokrajhar
district, wrote to Church officials on 20 Aug. The officer sought
Church support in key areas like education of the children in the
relief camps, pediatric and specialist care, trauma and career
counseling for the youth and adoption of the villages that had been
completely burned.
Tarun Gogoi, Assam Chief Minister, repeated the same plea
to an ecumenical delegation that called on him on 21 Aug after
a visit to relief camps, when he acknowledged the relief work of
the churches in the ethnic conflict zone. Gogoi asked delegation
members to help restore peace, said Allen Brooks, a Catholic and
member of the Assam Minority Commission.
Rekha Shetty, Catholic Relief Services’ director of disaster
management in India, told CNS the agency already had “opened
child-friendly spaces in 10 relief camps.” Shetty said CRS has
already distributed nearly 6,000 medicated mosquito nets to people
in the relief camps and was procuring more nets for distribution,
since a medicated net is “effective way to reduce risk of malaria in
the crowded camps in pathetic conditions.”
Meanwhile, religious groups worked to reassure Christians
in northeastern India after thousands fled Indian cities following
rumors of retaliatory attacks on people who look like ethnic Bodos.
More than 30,000 people from the northeast fled to Bangalore in
less than a week, while thousands more rushed home in panic in
jam-packed trains from several parts of India.
This exodus followed widespread rumors in the social media
against the people of the northeast with Mongoloid features in
retaliation for the violence in Kokrajhar. The panic was set off
by sporadic attacks on people of the northeast region by Muslim
extremists in cities like Mumbai, Pune and Mysore.
Jesuit Fr Walter Fernandes, director of the North Eastern
Social Research Centre based in Guwahati, said it was impossible
to distinguish Mongoloid ethnic groups. “Some of those who
have been assaulted and threatened include even Nepalis and
Tibetans,” he said.
A student of Jesuit-run St Joseph’s College, Bangalore who
hails from Manipur, told CNS: “My parents have been repeatedly
asking me to rush home ... but I told them I am safe here in the
college. Had I been staying outside I, too, would have left. Sadly,
it is the vulnerable poor who had fled.”
The college arranged temporary accommodation for students
fleeing the violence (see the other story on this page).Senior Muslim
leaders in Bangalore hosted an Eid al-Fitr dinner in Banglaore on 21
Aug. “You are safe here,” said Jaffar Sharieff, a prominent Muslim
leader, holding the hands of an anguished youth. - CNS
St Joseph’s College, Bangalore
shelters the North-East students
On the eve of 15 Aug, Independence Day, a mobile SMS
read, “Four North-East people were killed in Neelansandra
because of the communal violence in Assam.....Be careful!” This
SMS spread like a wild-fire among the the NE people living in
Bangalore. Within a few minutes, every one updated this news on
social networking sites like Facebook. This caused tremendous
fear and panic among the NE people residing in college hostels
or other work-places. On the next few days, Bangalore witnessed
the exodus of about 9000 NE people from the city.
On 16 Aug, there was an emergency meeting held at St
Joseph’s College, Bangalore which has a large number of students
from the North-East. The hall was filled with the tension and fear of
more than 400 NE and Tibetan students from St Joseph’s college
and others. Ten Muslim leaders and two police officials addressed
the gathering. They promised to do their best to safeguard the panic
-stricken people from the North-East. What gave greater peace
and hope to the students were the words of the college principal,
Fr Daniel Fernandes SJ, who promised to provide accommodation
for the NE people in the college and promised to consider the
attendance of those students those who would be going home.
Soon after the meeting, some of the classrooms were
transformed into makeshift dormitories. The college sheltered 45
students. The Jesuits in the college accompanied them in this time
of difficulty and crisis. The Jesuit Scholastics in Arrupe Nivas took
initiative to conduct get-together for the students in the evenings.
The get-together included party games, singing, dancing and
prayer for peace. It was always accompanied by sumptuous meals
donated by the benefactors. The students went to bed with peace
of mind and joy.
The Principal arranged further meetings between the NE
people and the Muslim leaders to bring better understanding
between the two groups and allay the fears that Muslims might
attack the NE people. Many media agencies and persons came to
the college and listened to the struggle and pain that the NE people
underwent. Thanks to the media, the voice of the suffering people
was heard by millions. By 25 Aug, the students left their temporary
homes in the college and returned to their respective hostels or
rented houses. “After 50 years, I may forget the names of the Jesuit
Fathers who run this college, but I will always cherish the love and
care that they gave us at St Joseph’s during my refugee days,” said
Ms. Penmila Vashum, a 19 year old student from Manipur.
- Sch P. V. Joseph Mang Pu, SJ
JIVAN: News and Views of Jesuits in India OCTOBER 2012 10