In recent times, their tale of woes started from 1996 onwards. The tribals of this area, the Bodos, have been co-living with the Adivasi Santhals for a long long time. But violence erupted when these tribals suddenly resorted to ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the Santhal in their bid to stake for an independent Bodoland.

The root of the violence if often traced back to a flimsy incident. These Bodo girls were believed to be killed in a place called Sattyapur, under the Gossaingaon sub-division of Lower Assam. The tribals took this (or projected this, as is believed by many) as a handiwork of the Santhals and started killing them. And excepting some lean patches, there has been no let-up in brutal killings and the helpless Santhals had to flee for their lives. As a last resort to survive they organised themselves ino collective groups and started living in temporary makeshift camps. But these makeshift camps have now become permanent homes of these helpless Adivasis as violence against them still continues.

Starting right from the Assam Bengal border in places like Srirampur and Telipara these shoddy camps are extended up to Kokrajhar throuh places like Shapkata, Habru Bil, Joy Maaguri, Bhadiaguri, Guruphela, Kochugaon, Karigaon, Beesmuri and Laipur. Each camp has an average population of 3000 to 4000 people. A camp of 4000 Adivasis is provided with one deep bore hand pump for all their water necessities. They have no means to build proper huts even. In the name of shelter, they just have a piece of tarpaulin laid over two erectile bamboo sticks or a square piece of thatched straw as they top over four logs dug in the ground. This is how they spend the seasons of devastating heat, torrential monsoon and the sweeping cold wave at the fossils of the mountains.

The State government and the local administration have done precious little for their upliftment. Their requests for basic ration, medical and educational facilities have fallen on deaf ears. Right now they are being provided meagre ration of rice, pulses and salt which is far from the adequate to sustain them. These helpless Adivasis want to go back to their respective villages and engage themselves in agriculture once again but the hatred directed against them and the constant threat on their lives prevent them from doing so. At the time of harvesting they can’t go to the fields to reap their own crops. Their crops are being harvested by the Bodos by force. The Santhal children are them most affected. They have now understood that illiteracy has been one of the major causes of their plight. So they earnestly want their children to be educated. Here too, their wish simply remains a wishful thinking. A Santhal child can’t go far to study otherwise he or she is sure to be targetted by the Bodos. Moreover, the schools are least interested to admit a Santhal child. The Santhals have sent letters to the authorities requesting to send a government teacher to the camp for the benefit of the children. But till date no such facility has been provided. It is believed that no teacher wants to risk his or her life by accepting to go and teach in a Santhal camp and in the process get targetted.