Commentary:
Issue 05: Thursday: 4 October
2012
The
ultra communal forces have reared their ugly head again. On 22 – 23 September,
they indulged in an orgy of violence and destruction in the tourist town of Rangamati,
and they did it in the presence of a huge contingent of police and army, who
stood only as mute spectators. Newspapers splashed photographs of stick-wielding
Bengali youths standing close to law enforcement personnel. Videos posted
online showed unruly mobs pelting stones at businesses owned by Jumma people
while policemen looked on.
According
to reports, it all stemmed from a personal issue between a Jumma and a Bengali
student, and soon engulfed the whole town. The authorities clamped section 144,
but by then the mayhem had left 60 people injured and dozens of businesses
damaged. It is like what we read in school grammar books: ‘The patient had died
before the doctor came.’ The question is why should the police always come to
the scene late? What were the authorities doing when the violence was rampaging
through the town? Were they playing flute like Nero? Or were they in deep
slumber like Kumbhakarna? Whatever it may be, they cannot extricate themselves
from responsibility.
But
what is more intriguing is that the authorities have failed to arrest anyone
involved in the deadly violence. The mob simply melted into thin air because
the police and other law enforcement personnel just let them go. This reminds
one of a magician who vanishes objects, such as a beautiful lady, an elephant
or even an armoured tank.
Rangamati
has not seen such a level of violence for two decades. The first time the town
was rocked by violence was in 1992. Those were the times when democratic
activity was beginning to unfold in the CHT with the advent of the Hill
Students Council. The violence of 1992 had started when Bengali students
attacked a peaceful rally organized by Hill Students Council on the occasion of
its third founding anniversary on 20 May. It was a premeditated attack in which
dozens of Jumma students including PCP leader Debashish Chakma (now in the USA)
and Tonoy Dewan were injured and many Jumma houses burnt to ashes. The then
District Council chairman Gautam Dewan had resigned in protest at the incident.
An inquiry committee headed by the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) was
formed but no one was punished. [Source: Radar, 1 June 1992 issue]
The
1992 Rangamati attack was masterminded by Parbattyo Gano Parishad, Bangalee
Chattra Parishad and Sama Odhikar Andolon. These are the communal outfits
formed by the army to counter the democratic movement of the Jumma people. In
the initial years, we saw these organizations being used frequently to foil or
obstruct democratic programmes of the Jumma organizations. The invariable
method was this: if PCP or any other Jumma organization announced a rally or a
protest march, these communal Bengali organizations would announce similar
programmes at the same time and at the same venue to provide the authorities
with a pretext to clamp section 144 effectively banning programmes by both
parties.
Over
the years, these ultra communal forces gained strength, spread their tentacles
all over the CHT and led Bengali settlers in grabbing Jumma people’s land. No
matter which government is in power, they enjoy full support from the army and
the local civil administration. Therefore, we saw them in action in Ramgarh in
2000, in Mahalchari in 2003, in Maischari in 2006, in Sajek in 2008 and 2010,
in Khagrachri in 2010, in Longudu, Ramgarh and Manikchari in 2011. And now we
have seen them again in Rangmati town itself. If they are not tackled
seriously, we are going to see them more. There should be no doubt about that.
Is
the government willing to bring the full weight of the law to bear on those
involved in the Rangamati attack? [End]