International Journal of All Research Education and Scientific Methods (IJARESM), ISSN: 2455-6211 Volume 9, Issue 1, January -2021, Impact Factor: 7.429, Available online at: www.ijaresm.com

Ethnic Conflict in , : History and Consequences

Kaveri Khound1, Prof. Utpal Kumar De2

1Research Scholar, Dept. of Economics, NEHU, Shillong, Meghalaya 2Professor, Dept. of Economics, NEHU, Shillong, Meghalaya

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ABSTRACT

Ethnic conflict has been part of human life since time immemorial. North-Eastern region of India is well-known for being the hotspot for terrorism and ethnic conflict for a long period of time. the gateway to North- East India is severely affected by ethnic violence for several years. Unrest in the region is inherent in the history of political, economic and social issues among the ethnic groups. Bodoland, the most virulent zone of conflict in Assam, have retrogressed economic development of the region. There are scratch reporting of the issues of ethnic conflicts in Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) of Assam, which is susceptible to ethnic conflict. But there is no such concrete study on the socio-economic issues related to the conflict. The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of ethnic conflict on the socio-economic development in BTAD region of Assam as reflected in the changes of several related parameters of development, migration, activity pattern of the people in the region particularly in .

Keywords: Ethnic conflicts, Kokrajhar, India, History, Socio- Economic, Impact,

INTRODUCTION

Ethnic conflict in general, refers to disputes or violence directed against a particular group on account of the group’s ethnicity. These conflicts take place to gain supremacy over territorial boundary or available resources of a particular region. Continuous and unabated Ethnic Conflicts in Kokrajhar district of Bodoland Territorial Region in Assam have significantly devastated life and property of the victims and have caused large displacement of population from conflict hit areas. Many of the displaced population who took shelter in relief camps had later migrated to safer regions which have led to spatial segregation of population on ethnic or community line. Conflict destroys economic resources and has caused serious impediments to economic development of Assam. Therefore, the concerned government is forced to overspend on security services, and is left with fewer resources for investment in development-oriented projects. Thus, in a myriad of ways, violent ethnic conflicts have debilitating effect on social and economic development of the region.

The widespread occurrence of violent ethnic conflict and its devastating impact on human security and well-being make this problem an important aspect for study. Thus, in this study an attempt has been made to study the history and impact of Ethnic Conflict in Kokrajhar district of Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) of Assam, in North East India.

History of Ethnic Conflicts and Socio-Economic Stress in Bodoland Bodo insurgency in Assam started in the 1970’s. Bodo’s, one of the largest tribal groups in Assam held the state government responsible for the neglect, economic underdevelopment and educational backwardness of the Bodos. Thus, Bodos have been trying to form a separate statehood of Bodoland to regain their lost vintage since the nineteen seventies. The eruption of Bodo insurgents also aimed at dispossession of Bengali Muslims and Adivasis (mainly Santhals) from Bodo dominated land. Bodos view the Bengali Muslim peasants and the Adivasis, as encroachers of their ancestral land and other resources. However, physical majority of all the Non-Bodos together in Bodoland, were perceived as having another kind of power and potential threat towards Bodo politics. Thus, ethnic cleansing mainly targeted the Non-Bodos and the first violent assault was observed in 1993-94. During the last two and half decades, Assam has witnessed several ethnic conflicts; between the Bodos and the Santhals in 1996, 1998, 2014; and between Bodos and Muslims in 1993, 2008, 2012. Due to repeated attack on the Non- Bodo’s specifically the Santhals and the Muslims, the Non-Bodo communities have also begun to arm themselves and counter-attack the Bodo’s. Thus, ethnic conflicts have been a reoccurring problem in Bodoland.

Data and Methodology: The present study focuses on effects of ethnic conflict on Bodoland Territorial Region, especially in Kokrajhar district. It is based on secondary data collected from various sources like books, research articles, newspapers, Census Reports, Statistical Handbooks, and Reports from Government offices. Ethnic conflict in Bodoland started since 1993, so impact

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International Journal of All Research Education and Scientific Methods (IJARESM), ISSN: 2455-6211 Volume 9, Issue 1, January -2021, Impact Factor: 7.429, Available online at: www.ijaresm.com of Ethnic conflict in Kokrajhar district is analyzed with the help of secondary data collected from three census reports i.e., 1990, 2001 and 2011 and Statistical Handbook of BTAD which is available since 2009.

In the analysis, tabular presentation of data is made to check the proportional changes in loss of life, resources, migration etc across ethnic groups. Also, changes in occupational pattern has been compared with that of the state as a whole, which gave an idea of differences in state as a whole and that in Kokrajhar and a significant difference in it may be attributed to the conflict and peace prevailing in the study area and other areas of the state. It thus helps in understanding the major differences in changes of demographic pattern and developmental outcomes in the Kokrajhar region. Chi-square test is also applied to check the significance of changing occupational pattern of Main and Marginal Workers over time in the area.

Impact of Ethnic Conflict in Kokrajhar Kokrajhar became an individual district of Assam in 1983. Later, in 2003 Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) consisting of four districts namely Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri was formed for having a so-called better administration with devolution of power for faster development. Recently, in January 27, 2020, a New Bodo Peace Accord has been signed and BTAD has been renamed as Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). There has been repeated ethnic conflicts in BTR since 1993. Table 2 provides the details of the violent conflicts that took place in and around Kokrajhar district since 1993 between Bodo’s and other Ethnic communities and its direct impacts on life and properties, particularly on shelter.

Table 1 highlights that, out of the six marked years of vigorous infighting since 1993, three times each it occurred between Bodo community and ethnic Muslims and between Bodo communities with Santhals. Number of population displaced and casualties of Non-Bodo communities has always been recorded as several times higher than that of Bodo communities. More or less, both the Muslims and Santhals have been in the receiving end in identical manner. In the earlier years, frequency of occurrence of conflict was more though the quantum of damage in all terms, especially burning of houses and displacement of population were relatively less. However, in the later part due to several controlling measures, frequency of occurrence of conflicts has declined, but the devastation has been increased by several times as reflected by the quantum jump of houses burnt and population displaced. With increased monitoring measures the situations appear to be more in the hands of Bodo communities, who are relatively well off and politically sound especially with the protection of Boro Accord 1993 whereas Muslims are mostly farmers and daily laborer, while the Santhals are daily wage labourers in agriculture or tea garden.

Table 1: Chronology of Ethnic Violence in Kokrajhar since 1993 and its Direct Impacts

Community Casualties Total Houses Burnt Population Displaced Year Involved Bodo Others Total Bodo Others Total Bodo Other Total 38 103 141 527 973 1500 7020 10980 18000 1993 Bodo Muslim (27) (73) (100) (35.1) (64.8) (100) (39) (61) (100) 9 46 55 412 2088 2500 22200 37800 60000 1994 Bodo Muslim (16.4) (83.7) (100) (16.5) (83.5) (100) (37) (63) (100) 25 147 172 887 2346 3233 58778 143906 202684 1996 Bodo Santhal (14.5) (85.5) (100) (27.4) (72.6) (100) (29) (71) (100) 40 146 186 126 150 276 135167 179175 314342 1998 Bodo Santhal (21.5) (78.5) (100) (45.7) (54.3) (100) (43) (57) (100) 20 96 116 1136 18414 19550 142889 223493 366382 2012 Bodo Muslim (17.2) (82.8) (100) (5.8) (94.2) (100) (39) (61) (100) 5 31 36 375 1948 2323 37662 197723 235385 2014 Bodo Santhal (13.9) (86.1) (100) (15.4) (83.9) (100) (16) (84) (100) Source: Data collected from the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Kokrajhar, Govt. of Assam. Note: Figures in the parentheses represent percentage to total.

Prolonged ethnic conflicts have led to serious impacts on demographic composition and also the economic growth and development of the region. Some of those possible impacts are examined below. a) Change in Demographic Pattern Ethnic conflicts have led to population displacement among the affected villages in Kokrajhar district. Displaced people had to take shelter in relief camps for months. Even after returning back from relief camps, affected villagers increasingly preferred to settle in villages inhabited by people of identical community. Total destruction of economic resources in many of the affected villages compelled many villagers to sell-out their lands and settle in domain away from conflict zone. From the information collected from various Census Report and Statistical handbooks, it can be

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International Journal of All Research Education and Scientific Methods (IJARESM), ISSN: 2455-6211 Volume 9, Issue 1, January -2021, Impact Factor: 7.429, Available online at: www.ijaresm.com observed that, after the major conflicts in Kokrajhar, there has been radical change in the demographic pattern of the population in the region.

Table 2: Change in Population in Assam and Kokrajhar between 1991 and 2011

Year Total Population Decadal Natural Growth Overall Decadal Population Rate (%) Growth Rate (%) Assam Kokrajhar Period Assam Kokrajhar Assam Kokrajhar 1991 22414322 808730 1981-91 20.4 23.02 21.0 27.73 2001 26655528 905764 1991-01 17.4 19.1 18.92 12 2011 31205576 887142 2001-11 14.7 15.5 17.07 -2.06 Source: Data are collected from various Census Reports, Govt. of India and National Sample Survey Organization, Govt. of India.

Table 2 reveals that natural rate of growth of population in Assam has always been lower than that of Kokrajhar, but the rates have been declining in Kokrajhar and the state as a whole since 1991. Though total population of Kokrajhar increased by almost a lakh during 1991 to 2001, it declined slightly in the following decade. Natural growth rate in Kokrajhar has however declined at faster rate than that of Assam as a whole. Further, overall population growth in Kokrajhar has been declined faster than that of whole Assam. Comparing population growth rate with natural growth rate we observe, for the state as a whole natural growth rate is lower than the overall population growth rate, which is reversed in case of Kokrajhar, implying that there has been an out-migration of population from Kokrajhar region to other region of the state along with some in-migration from other areas, possibly neighbouring countries, which would have instigated conflict again after 2011.

Table 3: Migrants from Outside India to Assam and Kokrajhar in different years

Countries 1981 - 1991 1991 - 2001 Assam Kokrajhar Assam Kokrajhar Bangladesh 288109 12926 164144 8183 (84.85) (95) (86.14) (94.2) Nepal 22433 294 17896 181 (6.61) (2.2) (9.39) (2.1) Others 29013 345 180135 302 (8.54) (2.56) (4.47) (3.5) Total 339555 13465 190558 8666 (100) (100) (100) (100) Source: Data collected from various Census Report of India, Govt. of India. Note: Figures in the parentheses represent percentage to total.

From Table 3 it is observed that, about three lakhs forty thousand people had migrated to Assam during1981-91, of which most were from Bangladesh and about thirteen thousand have settled in Kokrajhar. But the in-migration has come down to around one lakh ninety thousand during 1991-2001, again mostly from Bangladesh, of which about eight thousand have settled in Kokrajhar. Major conflicts which took place in Kokrajhar during 1993, 1994 and 2012 were between the Bodo’s and Muslims who are considered to have migrated from Bangladesh and settled down in Kokrajhar District.

Due to continuous increase in the number of Muslim populations from one lakh fifty-four thousand in 1991 to two lakhs sixty-four thousand in 2011 (According to Census Reports of Government of Assam), demography of Kokrajhar District changed and the indigenous Bodo’s inhabiting in Kokrajhar feared to lose their ancestral land to Muslims and they started involving in Ethnic conflicts. However, the number of in-migrants is not recorded as very high and that proves the higher natural growth rate of population in that community. Ethnic conflict resulted in further intra-regional changes in demographic pattern of Kokrajhar district through segregation of the Ethnic communities, where the weaker groups migrated from centre of conflict zone to relatively safer zone.

Table 4: Percentage Distribution of Population by Ethnic Communities in Sub-Divisions of Kokrajhar District

Ethnic Sub Divisions in Kokrajhar District Overall Kokrajhar Community Kokrajhar Gossaigaon Parbatjhora District 1991 2001 2011 2017 1991 2001 2011 2017 1991 2001 2011 2017 1991 2001 2011 2017 Bodo 50.3 50.3 49.2 51 33.1 30 29.5 27 - - 23.2 22 38.05 39.7 40.30 40.71

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International Journal of All Research Education and Scientific Methods (IJARESM), ISSN: 2455-6211 Volume 9, Issue 1, January -2021, Impact Factor: 7.429, Available online at: www.ijaresm.com

Muslim 14.9 17 21.6 20.7 29.3 31.2 33 34 - - 33.5 35.2 19.33 20.36 28.44 28.79 Santhal 5.8 5.8 6.1 5.5 14.8 15.9 17.3 18.2 - - 27.1 28.7 7.00 08.15 09.30 09.45 Others 29 26.9 23.1 22.8 22.8 22.9 20.2 20.2 - - 16.2 13.3 35.62 31.79 21.96 21.05 Notes:(i) Others refer to Rajbonshi, Bengali, Nepali, Nath, Marwari, Bihari, Rabha. (ii) Parbatjhora sub-division was formed in 2003. (iii) - indicates that the data is not available. Source: Data collected from Office of the Circle Officer, Kokrajhar, Government of Assam.

Table 4 reflects the change in the proportion of ethnic groups across different Sub-Divisions in Kokrajhar district between the period 1991 and 2017. Here, Bodos are mostly Hindu and so are the Santhals, and only a few Bodo as well as a few Santhal families follow Christianity. But it is so small, that the data are not available separately. From Table 4, it is observed that, during 1991, half of the population in Kokrajhar Sub-Division was Bodo, while Muslims were about 15 per cent and Santhals were below 6 per cents. Though proportion of Bodos remained same till 2017, proportion of Muslims increased to about 21 per cent, while the other smaller communities together came down from 29 per cent in 1991 to about 23 per cent in 2017.

Relatively, proportions of Muslim and Santhal community in Gossaigaon and Parbatjhora sub-division were more and share of Muslim population in Gossaigaon sub-division increased from about 29 per cent in 1991 to 34 per cent in 2017 and that of Santhals increased from about 15 per cent to 18 percent during that period. Proportion of Bodo community declined from 33 per cent in 1991 to 27.6 per cent in 2017, which was lower than the share of Muslims in that sub- division. Similar is the case of Parbatjhora sub-division where proportions of Muslims and Santhals have been more than the other two subdivisions and the shares have been increasing.

Though Kokrajhar sub-division was mostly occupied by the Bodo community in 1991, after the occurrence of Ethnic conflicts between 1991 and 2001, and then some cooling period, the proportion of Bodo community declined slightly, while that of Muslims was increasing. But in other two sub-divisions, proportions of Muslims and Santhals increased significantly and that led to overall increase in proportion of those communities in the District. This situation would have triggered the conflict again in 2012 and 2014.

After the ethnic conflict of 2012 and 2014 there has been locational shift and change in demographic pattern of population in the region. Bodo migrated towards areas consisting of majority of Bodo population within the Kokrajhar sub-division that led to a slight increase in its proportion in that sub-division, while the Santhal and Muslim communities migrated to villages in Gossaigaon and Partbatjhora sub-divisions; these two together became majority of population there. There has been overall decrease in population of other communities, which indicates that people from those other communities have migrated to other regions for security reason that arises due to the repeated conflicts.

b) Population Displacement Major ethnic conflicts in Kokrajhar broke out between the Bodo and Muslim community in 1993, 1994, 2012 and between Bodo and Santhal community in 1996, 1998, 2014. During the conflicts, houses, crops and other properties in the villages of both the communities involved in conflict were burned. People were slaughtered and many were displaced from their villages and compelled to take shelter in relief camps. Displacement had shattered the lives and resources of the victims, which led to pathetic economic condition of the victims after the conflict. The funds received from government were also not sufficient to restore their previous financial position. Thus, displacement has contributed towards economic backwardness of the region.

Table 5: Community-Wise distribution of Displaced Population from Three Sub-Divisions of Kokrajhar District (%)

Conflict Sub- Divisions in Kokrajhar Years Kokrajhar Gossaigaon Parbatjhora Bodo Muslim Santhal Others Bodo Muslim Santhal Others Bodo Muslim Santhal Others 1993 34.67 53.92 - 11.41 43.17 46.29 - 10.54 - - - - 1994 31.03 59.39 - 9.58 42.87 46.93 - 10.70 - - - - 1996 32.14 - 61.46 6.40 40.21 - 53.81 5.98 - - - - 1998 38.2 - 55.68 6.12 42.62 - 52.34 5.04 - - - - 2012 36.81 50.19 - 13 42.85 46.5 - 10.65 45.85 41.62 - 12.53 2014 39.38 - 54.19 5.83 39.58 - 54.25 6.17 39.62 - 48.88 11.50 Source: Data collected from Office of the Circle Officer, Kokrajhar, Government of Assam. Note:(1)Parbatjhora sub-division was formed in 2003. (2) Others refer to Rajbonshi, Bengali, Nepali, Nath, Marwari, Bihari, Rabha. (3) In the year of conflict between Bodo and Muslims, migration of Sathals was very less and thus they are included in others. Similarly, in the year of conflict between Bodo and Santhals, migration ofMuslims was very less and they are included in others for that particular year.

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From Table 4, it is observed that majority of people living in Kokrajhar Sub-Division are from the Bodo community. From Table 5 reflects that, during the conflict years more than fifty per-cent of the population displaced from this sub- division was either from Muslim or Santhal community. Again, in Gossaigaon sub-division, where the number of Bodo’s and other ethnic communities were almost similar, population displacement of both the rival groups was almost similar. During conflicts between Bodo and Muslim in Kokrajhar district, number of people displaced from other communities is comparatively more than the number of people displaced from other communities during conflict between Bodo and Santhal. This is due to the reason that Santhal lived in villages consisting of people from their own tribe, and they did not prefer to live in villages of mixed communities. So during conflicts Santhal dominated villages were particularly targeted, which was also easy for other groups to locate and set fire without affecting their own community. Whereas, Muslim community lived in both mixed villages and villages consisting of only minority population. So during conflict when Muslim were attacked in mixed populated villages, people from other small communities were equally affected, who preferred to leave the area for security.

Thus, it is observed that from the sub-division which mostly consisted of Bodo population, Non-Bodo people were displaced in larger number and the sub-division where there were large proportion of people from different community, both Bodo and Non-Bodo were equally displaced from their homes during conflict. Conflict has led to pathetic financial condition of the displaced population.

Changes in Occupational Pattern Ethnic conflicts lead to significant changes in occupational pattern and economic activity pattern of the affected people, which were mostly associated with internal displacement and migration. Sudden emigrations from a village cause shortage of specialized labour, unskilled agricultural work which led to sudden fall in economic activities like production, consumption and distribution. Similarly, in the newly relocated area, a sudden rise in supply of such laborer leads to temporary unemployment for the non-availability of specialized jobs and force the emigrants to work on a reduce wage for their survival. Also, migrants are in many cases compelled to adopt other works, which they would not have done earlier. On return of those people to their respective villages after a gap of some years of conflict, due to destruction of their economic resources several victims are even forced to change their livelihood activities.

Table 6: Change in Category of Main Workers in Kokrajhar District

Category of Kokrajhar Change (%) Assam Change (%) Main Worker 1991 2001 2011 1991-2011 1991 2001 2011 1991-2011 Cultivator 177743 112484 128150 -27.90 3559117 2680092 3138554 -11.82 (65.54) (47.91) (50.63) (50.90) (37.67) (36.13) Agricultural 43429 34760 29518 -32.03 844964 636351 903294 6.90 Labour (16.01) (14.81) (11.67) (12.08) (8.94) (10.39) Workers in 1486 6440 7337 393.74 61455 181120 242071 293.89 household (0.55) (2.74) (2.89) (0.88) (2.55) (2.79) Other workers 48531 81087 88105 81.54 2526520 3616534 4403204 74.27 (17.89) (34.54) (34.81) (36.14l) (50.84) (50.69) Total 271189 234771 253110 -6.67 6992056 7114097 8687123 24.24 (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) Source: Data collected from various Census Report of Kokrajhar, Government of Assam. Note: Figures in the parentheses represent percentage to total.

Table 6 highlights that during 1991 to 2001 when major conflicts took place in Kokrajhar District, number of Cultivators and agricultural laborers decreased and the number of household and the other workers had increased. In 2011 however, there was an increase in number of cultivators, while agricultural labourer declined in number. Overall, between 1991 to 2011 there has been sharp increase in household workers and other workers. In Assam as a whole the cultivators and agricultural labourers first decline during 1991-2001 and increased again in the following decade. However, household and other workers have increased significantly during both the decades but in lesser proportion in comparison to that of Kokrajhar district, where major ethnic violence had been observed. Even that happened in 2012 and 2014 again and that would have led to further rise in these two categories of workers.

This is because the displaced people had to take shelter in relief camps for months. During the conflict most of the cultivators had lost their cattle’s and agricultural equipment and also many of them lost their usual livelihood and thus forced to take up the jobs of household worker and other inferior occupations. The financial condition of the peasants was deteriorated after the conflict and after returning back to their villages many were not able to purchase cattle and agricultural machineries again. This also compelled many victims to start working as daily wage labourers or roadside vendors. Proportional more increase in household and other workers in Kokrajhar than overall Assam may be attributed to the conflicts in the area though this is a common trend in Assam. Further, overall main workers though increased in

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International Journal of All Research Education and Scientific Methods (IJARESM), ISSN: 2455-6211 Volume 9, Issue 1, January -2021, Impact Factor: 7.429, Available online at: www.ijaresm.com

Assam as a whole, it has declined in Kokrajhar district implying that many people have migrated to other area for settlement and thus did not come in the census of the particular district.

Chi square test is applied to check the differences in change of composition of main workers in Kokrajhar in comparison to that of overall Assam. The chi square test for the year is found to be significant at 0.000 level of significance in 1991 indicating that, there was a significant difference in distribution ofmain workers between Kokrajhar and Assam. In the year 2001 and 2011 similar result is obtained.

Table 7: Change in Category of Main Workers in different Sub-Divisions of Kokrajhar District

Category of Main Sub Divisions in Kokrajhar Workers Kokrajhar Gossaigaon Parbatjhora 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 Cultivator 92864 68522 55845 84879 43962 54354 - - 17951 (64.60) (48.78) (44.09) (66.60) (46.62) (55.77) (61.92) Agricultural 18256 15660 13966 25173 19100 11429 - - 4123 Labour (12.70) (11.15) (11.03) (19.75) (20.26) (11.73) (14.22) Household 946 4126 3624 540 2314 3145 - - 568 Worker (0.66) (2.94) (2.86) (0.42) (2.45) (3.23) (1.96) Other 31682 52171 53216 16849 28916 28541 - - 6348 workers (22.04) (37.14) (42.02) (13.22) (30.67) (29.28) (21.90) Total 143748 140479 126651 127441 94292 97469 - - 28990 Source: Data collected from various Census Reports of Kokrajhar, Government of Assam. Note: (1) Figures in the parentheses represent percentage to total. . (2) Parbatjhora sub-division was formed in 2003. (3) Other workers refers to workers engaged in livestock, Dairy, hunting, forestry, plantation and allied activities, business etc.

From Table 7, it is observed that, in all the three sub-divisions proportions of main workers as cultivator and agricultural labourer have declined during previous two decades, while that of household and other workers have increased significantly. During the conflict period since 1991, in Kokrajhar and Gossaigaon sub-division, number of cultivators and people engaged in agricultural activities has been tremendously decreased whereas the number of household workers and other workers has increased. This indicates that, due to repeated conflict and displacement people shifted to other occupations instead of being engaged in agriculture. Table 9 shows the different category of Marginal workers in Kokrajhar district.

Table 8: Change in Category of Marginal Workers in Kokrajhar Distric t Category of Kokrajhar Change (%) Assam Change (%) Marginal worker 1991 2001 2011 1991-2011 1991 2001 2011 1991-2011 Cultivator 2749 31349 28603 57.26 869670 1050681 923073 64.54 (20.61) (31.32) (32.49) (79.3) (43.34) (28.12) Agricultural Labour 2664 40681 26812 52.53 171869 627181 942052 82.74 (19.97) (40.65) (30.46) (15.7) (25.87) (28.69) Workers in 3200 5595 5086 58.94 22842 163792 249250 264.90 household (23.98) (5.59) (5.78) (2.08) (6.76) (7.59) Other workers 4728 22453 27520 -11.77 24131 582840 168192 596.9 (35.44) (22.44) (31.27) (2.92) (24.03) (35.6) Total 13341 100078 88021 559.7 1096879 2424494 3282567 199.26 (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) Source: Data collected from various Census Report of Kokrajhar, Government of Assam. Note:(1)Figures in the parentheses represent percentage to total.(2) Other workers refers to workers engaged in livestock, Dairy, hunting, forestry, plantation and allied activities, business etc

Table 8 shows that, during the study period, number of cultivators engaged as marginal workers were increasing over time. The number of marginal agricultural labourers had increased up to 2001 and then the number decreased in the next decade in all the sub-divisions. During the years of conflict between 1991 and 2001, most of the people were displaced from the conflict prone areas and thus they could not be engaged in agricultural activities for the whole year. Many agricultural labourers and cultivators also became marginal workers during the conflict years. That is why the percentage of reduction in marginal workers in Assam was very high, while that of sub-divisions of Kokrajhar district

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was comparatively less as they had no other opportunity to switch over to any other small occupation. But in absolute sense, the number has increased in more proportion in the state as a whole than that of the district.

Like the distribution of Main Workers, Marginal Workers’ distribution is also found to be significantly different in Kokrajhar from that of overall Assam at one per cent level of significance for the years 1991, 2001 and 2011 respectively.

From Table 9 it is observed that, in Kokrajhar and Gossaigaon Sub-Divisions, there has been an increase in the number of Cultivators and Agricultural Labourers in between 1991 and 2001 and there was a decrease in the number of household workers and Other workers in that period. In between the years 2001 and 2011, in Kokrajhar sub-division the number of cultivators has decreased, whereas the number of cultivators in Gossaigaon sub-division and Parbatjhora sub-division increased. This is due to internal migration of the minority people who are mostly associated with agriculture from Kokrajhar sub-division to Parbatjhora and Gossaigaon sub-division, where there was large number of Minority people due to repeated attack by Bodo people. In all the sub-divisions the number of agricultural labourers was seen to be decreasing, whereas the number of other workers and household workers has seen to be increasing over the period 2001 to 2011. This is because of the fact that due to repeated conflicts and displacement, people choose to be engaged in other works rather than agricultural work.

Table 9: Change in Category of Marginal Workers in Different Sub-Divisions of Kokrajhar District

Category of Sub Divisions in Kokrajhar Marginal Workers Kokrajhar Gossaigaon Parbatjhora 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 Cultivator 1470 18564 12613 1279 12785 9432 - - 6558 (21.39) (33.96) (28.97) (19.77) (28.15) (30.42) (48.67) Agricultural Labour 1362 21265 13139 1302 19416 9092 - - 4581 (19.82) (38.91) (30.18) (20.13) (42.75) (29.32) (33.99) Household Worker 1573 2448 2664 1627 3147 2062 - - 360 (22.89) (4.48) (6.19) (25.15) (6.93) (6.65) (2.67) Other workers 2468 12380 15122 2260 10073 10422 - - 1976 (35.91) (22.65) (34.73) (34.94) (22.18) (33.61) (14.66) Total 6873 54657 43538 6468 45421 31008 - - 13475 Source: Data collected from various Census Report of Kokrajhar, Government of Assam. Note: (1) Figures in the parentheses represent percentage to total. (2) Parbatjhora sub-division was formed in 2003. (3) Other workers refers to workers engaged in livestock, Dairy, hunting, forestry, plantation and allied activities, business etc

Effect on Handloom Industry BTAD region of Assam is underdeveloped in terms of industrial growth. From government reports it can be observed that there are only a few registered manufacturing units in the region till date. People are mostly engaged in traditional Khadi and Handloom industries. Almost every household has expertise in handloom and it is also one of the major sources of livelihood of people in BTAD area. Conflicts are hindrance for progress of these small scale industries. During conflicts, people were displaced from their villages due to which, the weavers could not be engaged in their work during that period. Thus, there was a reduction in the number of weavers as well as production during the conflict period. From government reports, it can be seen that the growth in number Village and Handloom industry and manufacturing units are very slow.

Table 10: Changes in Number of Handloom Production Units, Number of Villages Covered and Number of Weavers Engaged during 2008-09 to 2016-17

Year No. of Production of No. of No. of Weavers Engaged Weavers Extension Service Handloom Handloom Villages Unit Production Units Covered Total Part Time Full Time Number Production Unit 2008-09 03 1645 1040 10500 6250 4250 3 1568 2009-10 03 1650 1040 17915 12891 5024 3 1571 2010-11 03 1650 1040 20907 4790 16117 3 1570 2011-12 03 1652 920 21040 4790 16250 3 1577 2012-13 03 990 920 13898 9719 4179 3 690 2013-14 03 990 922 28079 22385 5694 3 690 2014-15 03 750 1049 16301 10300 5001 3 750

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International Journal of All Research Education and Scientific Methods (IJARESM), ISSN: 2455-6211 Volume 9, Issue 1, January -2021, Impact Factor: 7.429, Available online at: www.ijaresm.com

2015-16 03 1150 1089 49715 1156 48559 3 815 2016-17 03 1210 1089 49850 1130 48720 3 1708 Source: Data collected from Statistical Handbook of BTAD, Assam. Note: Production is in Meter.

From Table 10, it is observed that, conflict has affected investment risk to a great extent. In the conflict affected year’s i.e between the years 2012-2013 and 2014-2015, total number of weavers engaged in Handloom production units and Weavers Extension Service Unit has decreased. Most of the weavers were engaged in part time weaving during conflict which led to reduction in production of Handloom Units as well as Weavers Extension Service Unit during conflict period. Thus, conflict has significantly affected the handloom sector which is a major small-scale industrial sector in Kokrajhar District.

CONCLUSION

From the description of data, it can be said that Bodo insurgency has started since independence and recurring from time to time. Undoubtedly, ethnic conflicts in BTAD region of Assam have led to much suffering of the affected populations, undermined national cohesion and infringed upon fundamental civil liberties of the victims. Moreover, the changes in demographic pattern and economic effects of the violence have been felt mostly in BTAD region of Assam. Also, the impact is felt in other zones of the state or entire North-Eastern region of India, wherever these migrant people settled. The effect is reflected in loss of life and property, other resources, livelihood options in the conflict prone area as reflected in the changing occupational pattern. Therefore, for the sustainable growth and development of the society, genuine mechanisms for peace building in BTAD region of Assam are warranted.

REFERENCE

[1]. Baruah, S. 2003. Nationalizing space: cosmetic federalism and the politics of development in Northeast India, Development and Change, 34 (5): 915- 939. [2]. Baruah, S. 2007. Post-frontier blues: Toward a new policy framework for Northeast India. East-West Center Washington. [3]. Borooah, V. K. 2013. The killing fields of Assam: Myth and reality of its Muslim immigration. Economic and Political Weekly, 48(4): 43-52. [4]. Cline, L.E. 2006. The insurgency environment in Northeast India. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 17(2): 126-147. [5]. Dasgupta, A. 2005. Postcolonial ethnic management: Assam through the prism of Malaysian experience. Unpublished Paper. Sunway University College, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia. [6]. Narzary, P.K. 2009. Dying alive: Vulnerability of tribal internally displaced persons in Assam, India. Paper Presented at 26th IUSSP International Population Conference, Marrakech, Morocco. [7]. Premdas, R. R. 1996. Ethnicity and development: the Caribbean and Oceania (No. 221). Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies. [8]. Shivananda, H. 2011. Ethnic conflict and security apprehension in Northeast India. Journal of Scholar’s Voice: A New Way of Thinking. New Delhi. 2(1): 13-21.

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