Displaced at home
Like the Kashmiri Pandit families, the Santhals are unwanted in their own turf and are forced to lead the life of refugees.

They belong to a new category – internally displaced persons. They number some 200,000. All of then, adivasi Santhals are a minority in the Bodo belt and became victims  of bloody ethnic clashes since 1996. About 1000 Santhals were hacked  to death; hundreds maimed for life.  So, like the Kashmiri Pandit families from Jammu and Kashmir, the Santhals are unwanted in their own turf and are forced to lead     the life of refugees in about 40-odd camps.

Consider the plight of 42-year old Syamal Munda.  Seven years back, he and his family escaped death by hiding behind a cow shed as Bodo tribal separatists hacked to death his neighbours who were fast asleep and set ablaze to the cluster of huts in his village. In fact, Munda saw his mud-and-thatch dwelling go up in flames. After about an hour of orgy, the ultras left behind a pool of blood, injured villagers writhing in pain, breaking the deathly silence of that wintry night.

Munda, his wife Rani and two teenaged children, spent that night in a jungle - dazed and shocked. Police rescued them and hundreds of other survivors the following morning and shifted them to a makeshift relief camp in Sapketa, 280 km west of Guwahati.

The government is making an effort to persuade them to return to their native villages. The rehabilitation package is attractive - Rs 10,000 in cash per family – good enough money for the Adivasis.  “I would reconstruct my hut and try and start life afresh in my village,” Munda said as he was getting ready for his return journey. Last July some 20,000 were rehabilitated under a similar package. Says an elderly woman, “There is fear no doubt that Bodo rebels might attack us once we return back to our homes. We are taking a chance not knowing what would happen next.”

 “This is an ongoing process and very soon we shall be able to rehabilitate the remaining refugees in batches,” says District Magistrate of Kokrajhar Ashish Bhutani. “If we get adequate funds, the rehabilitation process would finish soon.” He said security pickets have been posted in vulnerable villages to prevent fresh reprisals. “There would be a heavy security presence in most villages so that the refugees feel secured,” the district magistrate added.

But for those who remain at the refugee camps, life would continue to be a tortuous one - most of them undernourished, surviving on just five kilograms of rice a month per family doled out by the government. “We don’t have any work and no money to buy food. The government ration is irregular and insufficient,” complained a refugee. “We remain without food at times. ”
                    
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