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| Guwhati High Court |
"We have been directed by the high court to provide practical and workable solutions to the respondents Assam, Meghalaya and the union home ministry on the issue of displacement of the Rabhas and Garos," ACHR director Suhas Chakma said.
The organization said over 20,000 Rabhas fled the Garo-dominated areas of Meghalaya and hundreds of Garos escaped from the Rabha-dominated villages of Goalpara district following the riots that broke out in January. Thousands of people, representing both the communities, who living in the Mendipathar area are still fearing repeat of similar clashes.
To rehabilitate the displaced people with adequate facilities, the organization filed a public interest litigation in the high court in January. The organization sought similar resettlement funds for the clash-hit people of Assam and Meghalaya as provided to the Kashmiri Pandits and Sri lankan Tamil refugees.
Expressing concern over the displacement of thousands of people in both the states, the ACHR demanded a permanent settlement of the villagers in their own hamlets that they fled following the clashes.
Locals of the Mendipathar area along the border between Assam and Meghalaya have been spending sleepless nights since January 2 this year although their villages were not touched by the ethnic clash. Several villagers told TOI that they were still haunted by the ghastly memories of the attacks.
An official report had said the clashes along the Assam-Meghalaya border which claimed nine lives began from a "small tiff".
On January 1, some drunken youth from the Rabha and Garo communities were partying at Manikganj in Meghalaya's East Garo Hills district. A verbal confrontation took place after which the Rabha group allegedly assaulted two boys belonging to the Garo community.
"It appears that this acted as a catalyst and inflamed passions on communal lines," a status report on the violence prepared by the East Garo Hills administration said. Detailing an account of the incidents as they unfolded each day till January 9 during the violent clashes, the report pointed at rumours about incidents on Assam side that led to unrest in Meghalaya.
"The demand for Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council has few takers in the Garo community settled in Goalpara in Assam and as such there are tensions between the two communities and frequent outbreaks of violence. Further, the economic blockades and bandhs called by Rabha bodies are often violent, making it difficult for the Garos there and in Meghalaya. During these bandhs, people in Meghalaya cannot move on the NH 37 which passes through Goalpara if they have to travel to Guwahati or to Shillong," it said.
