Reign Of Woes

IT was an ominous beginning to Prafulla Kumar Mahanta's second term as chief minister. In the first week itself, Tinsukia's superintendent officers by suspected ULFA militants, an IAS officer with a tribal district council was shot at, a pro-ULFA executive editor of a popular daily was gunned down in front of his seven-year-old son and, in one of the worst displays of tribal violence, Bodos and Santhals of Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar districts fought pitched battles, claiming over 100 lives and destroying 200 villages. About 1,50,000 people were displaced: 10,000 fled to neighbouring West Bengal.

What was worse for the administration is that the mayhem in these lower Assam districts continued for three days despite curfew orders. Gun-wielding Bodo militants attacked the Santhals, armed only with bows and arrows, accusing them of encroachment. Another matter that some of the Santhals have been living in the state for generations.

The outbreak of the Gosaingaon violence was preceded by minor incidents between Bodo militants and Santhals, who originally hail from south Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and other areas. The provocation was said to be the discovery of three dead bodies of Bodo women near a Santhal village. The women had been poisoned and Bodo militants took this opportunity to declare open war on nearby Santhal villages, shooting down at least a score of people on May 15 itself. Somewhat unexpectedly, the Santhals struck back, torch-ing Bodo villages at random. Villages on either side of National Highway 34 linking Kokrajhar to Guwahati on one side and north Bengal on the other continued to burn even after curfew had been imposed on May 15.

An eyewitness told Outlook : "Driving through the entirely deserted highway at night was an experience. There was nothing but the glow of burning villages on both sides of the dark road. We did not see a single policeman or a paramilitary person. The nearby townships had nothing for visitors, no food or even petrol. People living in the makeshift relief camps, too, did not get much help." Mahanta's problem was a shortage of forces. He requested West Bengal to despatch some forces while he sent two ministers and an all-party team to the spot, but did not go himself, preferring to operate from his guest house office. This provoked unfavourable comparisons with the late Hiteswar Saikia who usually went personally to troubled areas as a confidence- building measure.

The new Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government was quick to put the blame on the late Congress chief minister. "Saikia's policies are responsible for the outbreak of tribal violence," Mahanta told newsmen. Saikia may or may not have been responsible for dividing the tribals in the state but the law and order situation is not any better elsewhere. A few examples: An all night medical store in Ulubari area of Guwahati now downs its shutters at 9 pm; the city's bustling Paltanbazar, which caters to the needs of late night rail and road passengers for the entire north-east, goes to sleep after 10 pm; there are fewer night buses plying the city routes. Said a resident of Panbazar: "It is not as though the bad old days prior to President's rule in Assam—November, 1990—are back, when the streets were deserted after 7 pm and people lived in fear. But we seem to be approaching that stage once again."

 As a prominent BJP leader admitted: "Under Saikia, at least things were under control." The general opinion in Guwahati broadly supports this view. And Mahanta's critics—not all Congressmen—are not prepared to give him any time to settle down. Said Kamini Sarma, state BJP secretary: "What can you really expect from a government that enjoys support from extremist elements like the ULFA? The AGP may be in power, but the ULFA is calling the shots in the state." 

Congress Secretary Dhruva Narayan Baruah is equally critical: "It is common knowledge that the All-Assam Students' Union, the ULFA and the AGP are one and the same thing. No wonder, the situation has gone out of control. Some killings have even gone unreported—Biren Besra, a Santhal Congress leader of Kokrajhar, was killed by Bodo militants. Attacks on Congressmen, the burning of their homes and the looting of property have become commonplace, especially in lower and central Assam." Congress leaders expressed their unhappiness over the law and order situation at the first all-party meet called by Mahanta after his swearing-in ceremony but claimed that he failed to give them any assurances.

 Caught between pressure from the Opposition as well as friendly parties and the new BJP Government at the Centre—Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee spoke to him over the telephone asking him to stop the riots—Mahanta's job was cut out for him: he had to contain the violence and bring stability.

Observers admit that while it would not be fair to attribute the breakdown in the law and order situation to Mahanta—the very first day of Hiteswar Saikia's tenure (July 1, 1991) was marked by the kidnapping of 14 non-Assamese state and Central officers—he failed to measure up to the needs of the emergency situation that gripped Assam. In some ways, he was also the unsuspecting victim of a conspiracy.

Four senior officials, including the chief secretary, the director general of police (DGP), the finance commissioner and an SP, two of them known for their pro-Congress stand, decided to go on long leave—flying out of Guwahati on May 12 itself. Thus, the new chief minister found himself in an unprecedented administrative crisis. It was some time after his swearing-in that a new DGP, K. Hrisikeshan, was appointed. When news of the executive editor's killing reached the police headquarters, the new DGP could not locate his SP—he had left the city by then. To his credit, Mahanta remained cool in his hour of crisis. "Officers have every right to go on leave," he told newsmen at his first press meet and made it clear that he was not thinking in terms of punishing them.

On the other hand, Mahanta who is to the AGP what Saikia was to the Congress—the sole repository of power—slipped up in other areas. For example, he forgot to announce relief payments to the victims of the violence. "It is amazing that our chief minister did not announce any exgratia payment for the deceased SP's family in Tinsukia," pointed out a CPI(M) spokesman. "This caused much resentment and demoralisation within the police force which, in any case, was functioning without one of its top officers. The new government was operating in an administrative vacuum and our new leaders did not really know what to do." 

True, Mahanta's appeal to newspaper editors and the people to give him "more time" evoked some sympathy, but his reputation as the 'supreme' leader in Assam has taken a beating. Observers feel that Mahanta should have known what to expect from Saikia's experience as chief minister, who also encountered the stiffest challenge to his authority on the first day of his second tenure in 1991.

Speculation was rife as to whether there is a concerted move to discredit the new government within days of its taking over. What observers find surprising is that the same force which made trouble for Saikia, the ULFA, is probably active now as well, regardless of its known links with some AGP members. Whatever the explanation, Mahanta's second term may be far more troublesome than his first in 1985.