THE ASHES CONTINUE TO SIMMER

A draft status report on the situation of the affected districts of lower Assam, advocacy intervention and future plan of action

Prepared by

Rehnuma
(A project of the National Foundation for India, Planning Commission of India & Centre for Social Justice with local support from Jubayer Masud Educational Charitable Trust)

For the period 26th July to 30th August, 2012

Volunteer support extended by:

Minorities Rights Preservation Committee, and People living in Bodo and Muslim relief camps.

Table of contents:
1. Background 3

2. Our response

3. The current situations of the camps

4. Engaging with the Administration

5. Advocacy Interventions

10

6. Future Plan of Action

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I.

Figures of the camp as Government Press Release on 24/8/2012 16 18 19

II. III.

Total Relief material distributed Overview of the plan

1. Background:
The present conflict in the three districts of lower Assam has sent ripples across the country. Ethnic violence has been part of historic observation in India. Every time that ethnic violence has occurred, the nation has been appalled. Assam region has been witnessing conflict since a long time and fear has been instilled in the minds of people. The recent outburst has left more than 4 lakh people displaced from their homes, 77 dead and several others injured.

The vagary of the status of human rights under such fear remains a debate for all citizens. In such situations, Article 15 and 21 of the Indian Constitution are directly violated. Each citizen of this country enjoys the Right to Life and cannot be discriminated on the basis of caste, sex, race, religion etc. Who is responsible for this clash? Is it a political debate or is there more to it? Who is responsible for managing these people who have fled homes as their security is jeopardized. Their return is uncertain, and it is impossible for them rebuild their lives under these circumstances. Hundreds of villages have been completely charred; livelihood, education, livestock, etc.
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is lost. The relief material that is provided is limited and cannot sustain families for a very long time. It is important to nail the response of the State in such a situation which can be done only after receiving ground level information. The UN Guiding Principle on Internally Displaced People clearly mentions about providing proper security, food and nutrition, sanitation etc. to the people who are displaced due to such conflicts. The present Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy also provides for the protection and entitlements to the displaced. In order to ensure that the entitlements of the affected victims are made visible to the State, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and Rehnuma felt it necessary to first make a damage assessment so that there is an understanding of the magnitude of loss and requirement for compensation. It has been challenging to interact with local administration, to gather volunteers from relief camps and to orient them about the necessity of doing this assessment.

2. Our response
CSJ is leading a national level movement on the issue of IDP since 2002 through different strategic advocacies and lobbying with Government and other forums. Through its continuing efforts, recently CSJ has been able to get Internal Displacement due to Conflict be included in the12th Five Year plan draft. CSJ is coordinating a national level study on internal displacement due to conflicts with the support of Action Aid, India. Given its experience in setting up entitlement centers post-earthquake and communal violence in Gujarat, joint team of Janvikas, CSJ and Rehnuma initiated a situation assessment work as early as the second week of the violence (25 th July 31st July). CSJs continuing engagement on the issue and the presence of two lawyers in the violence affected districts since last one year necessitated that there should be a response to the situation immediately and support the work on ground. The first impressions of the team showed the absence of basic systems of

ensuring legal entitlements as well as basic standards of living in IDP camps. It was followed up by a fact finding visit by eminent

people from civil society groups. The visit revealed that civil society

organizations must respond immediately to the situation and ensure non-discriminatory and non-exclusionary treatment to all affected families. During the visit, it was also clearly expressed by the local groups that organizations like CSJ and Rehnuma needs to pitch in and provide legal support in training paralegals and ensuring IDP camp management in accordance to Human Rights standards.CSJ and Rehnuma have maintained continuous presence since 25th July and are maintaining a daily log of the situation. The first steps taken by the team post landing were:
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Conducting a broad situation analysis of the violence affected areas, IDP camps and people living in these camps. The situation analysis report was sent to the civil society and member of the National Commission for Minorities.

This was followed up by a fact finding visit by a group of eminent civil society members and human rights activists. A fact finding visit by Dr Syeda Hameed member of the Planning Commission of India where she met with the Bodo leaders and visited both the Muslim and Bodo Camps.

Setting up a coordination cell to coordinate with local authorities, local civil society groups, student unions etc. to monitor relief work by government and also to strategize future course of action.

Preparation of a detailed format to record the losses of the people. The format includes a section for collecting information for FIR. In case FIRs have not been submitted, individuals can fill those formats and submit them to the police. The police were briefed about the same and linkages were set up.

Identification of local volunteers who can be trained for damage assessment and facilitate legal entitlements to the affected people and families.

Since the formats are detailed, there was a need for an orientation to be done for all volunteers. Volunteers in both the Bodo camps and Muslim camps were identified, and trained to fill up the formats so that the information was collected authentically. ABSU volunteers had been helping in the Bodo camps already and had prepared a detailed information report on the number of people etc. In the Muslim camps of Dhubri, there were volunteers of Rehnuma; however, in Gossaingaon a group of young educated Muslim youth called Minority Rights Preservation Committee came forth to volunteer. ABSU took the responsibility of all the Bodo camps while; Rehnuma and MRPC took the responsibility of the Muslim camps.
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In order to ensure that the data entry on the format was done well, several volunteers were oriented. They are now actively pursuing the filing up of forms. The process ensured empowerment and strengthening of volunteers.

The Formats focused largely on the assessment of damage and to file FIRs of individuals who had suffered the losses.

Flex banners highlighting the government compensation packages were put up in some of the camps. The same is proposed to be done for other camps as well.

The following is the current status of work: CHIRANG Data collection work in the Bodo camps/villages of the Chirang District has been completed. A total of 148 Bodo families were affected in this district. For the Muslim relief camps, work is underway in the two sub-divisions of Chirang separately, that is in Kajalgaon and Bijni. In Kajalgaon, forms have been distributed and about 2000 filled up formats have also been received back. Demand for more forms have been received from several camps. The police has agreed to receive the Information for FIR portion of our format as statement to be amalgamated with the FIRs filed in the villages. We have visited the District Judge of Bongaigaon and discussed our plans in detail. We have also submitted a proposal of work which can be carried out. KOKRAJHAR At least 4500-5000 formats have been given to the volunteers of the Minority Rights Preservation Committee of which around 3000 have come back after having been filled. The process of verification is on and is being carried out by their volunteers themselves. Orientation for the volunteers had been conducted earlier.
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In the Bodo camps where work is being carried out with assistance from volunteers of the All Bodo Students Union, around 2500 filled up forms have been received and the process of verification is on.

Our teams, along with lot mandals of the Administration had made visits to a village where loss assessment was being carried out. A proposal with the activities we are planning to carry out has been submitted to the District Legal Services Authorities. The same has also been discussed with the District Judge. We are also in touch with the Kokrajhar Law College.

DHUBRI In the Bilasipara sub-division, we have distributed about 8,000 formats here out of which around 4000 filled up forms have come back. Work of verification of formats has started. A work proposal similar to that of Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar has been submitted to the District Judge.

3. The current situations of the camps

Hosting the distressed in camps is one of the biggest challenges to the local administration. All the affected people have been moved to government buildings like schools and colleges. This space is not enough. The supplies fall short; there is lack of water and sanitation facilities. This has led to illness and infections. Young kids have no clothes to wear; women have to make do with unhygienic conditions. Pregnant women are also suffering because of lack of facilities. Thankfully some respite was offered by the intervention of Dr Syeda Hameed where some pregnant women were provided with nutrition supplements. Though the officially reported death toll is 77, volunteers have informed about deaths due to shock in the camps. The National Rural Health Mission
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para medics are stationed at all the camps, but here is meager provision for trauma counseling, which is needed for children and adults alike. Loss of employment for a prolonged period is an obvious outcome. It is important to mention here that a large part of labour in these districts consists of Muslim labourers. These laborers are not able to move back to their workplace due to fear. Their cattle and livestock is lost or dead and the camp inmates have no means to find the livestock back. Some inmates visit the village in hope of finding some of their belongings, but return with shattered expectations as the villages are reduced to burnt ashes and appear like a huge cluttered dump yard of tinned roof.

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4. Engaging with the Administration

The team first approached all the DC (Deputy Commissioner) of Chirang, Dhubhri and Kokrajhar and the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) (Civil) of the Gossaingaon Division. The Commissioners were very welcoming and extended information on (a) the number of camps and the number of families (b) relief materials being provided. The team explained the purpose of its and

involvement,

extended intention of complete support. The team explained that FIRs were not being lodged since the

people were not able to go to their village. The DCs suggested that the FIR format be included in the

information seeking form which would be honored and supported by the Superintendent of Police and these FIRs would then be recorded. The SDO (Civil) Gossaingaon was gracious enough to connect us to the Lot Mandals (units of the District Administration) who were conducting assessments of the damage in villages. The SDO sought assistance from the volunteers for verification and authenticity of the damages in the villages. For 3 days volunteers of Minority Rights Preservation Committee and CSJ accompanied the Lot Mandals and assisted in
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assessment of the losses. The SDO allowed CSJ to make a road map with the Lot Mandals. The impact of this was very fruitful. Volunteers were able to identify houses that were left out and also play a vigilance role with the Lot Mandals. The Volunteers reported to the SDO in the evening with their observations. The SDO also accepted the suggestions of providing assessment receipts to the people whose houses were assessed (If they were present at the time of assessment) All the DCs were supportive.

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5. Advocacy Interventions
The most striking discrimination that has been observed in this man-made calamity in lower Assam is how the State has responded in terms of providing rehabilitation package to the affected. The Government of Assam is still following an age old criteria of relief that is provided after any disaster, the gross inadequacy speaks of complete disregard of the serious situation of the people who have suffered losses. To bring this to light, the team submitted representations to departments of the Central and State Government. The following is the text of the representation.
Sub: Request for revision of the amount of compensation allotted for the 2012 BodoMuslim ethnic clashes of lower Assam Sir/Madam, This is to bring to your notice the gross inadequacy of the relief and rehabilitation package announced by the State Government of Assam and the Central Government for the families affected by the recent ethnic clashes in lower Assam. You may kindly refer to the following letters: 1. Letter dated 30th of July, 2012, No. 82(15008)/2012-PMF (hereinafter referred to as Letter A) from the Director, Prime Ministers Office to the Chief Secretary, Government of Assam, and 2. Letter dated 3rd of August, 2012, No. RR. 73/2012/4 (hereinafter referred to as Letter B) from the Principal Secretary, Government of Assam, Revenue and D.M. Department to the Deputy Commissioner of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Dhubri and Bongaigaon and to the Sub-Divisional Officer of Gossaigaon, Bijni, Parbatjhora and Bilasipara. With reference to the above, would like to bring to your attention the following points: a) Financial assistance to the injured: Financial Assistance to the Injured, as mentioned in (D) of Letter B provides for Rs. 50,000 as the amount of compensation for persons with grievous injuries. Letter A in the 13

same category [point number (ii)] provides for an Ex-gratia of Rs. 50,000 to the seriously injured persons. Hence, a cumulative amount of Rs. 1 lakh has been announced as compensation for seriously/grievously injured persons. I. Here, we would like to bring to your notice that letter dated 27th of April, 2007, No. 13016/4/07 from the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs addressed to the Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat awarded a compensation of upto Rs. 1.25 lakhs towards relief and rehabilitation of the victims of the 2002 Gujarat Communal Riots. The same was implemented by the Government of Gujarat vide Resolution Number RHL/102007/2477S.4 dated 24th of September, 2007. II. We would also like to bring to your notice letter dated 16th of January, 2006, No. U.13018/46/2005 of the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs which sanctioned Rs. 1.25 lakh as a rehabilitation package for those injured in the 1984 Sikh riots. In light of the above mentioned, we would request you to revise and enhance the amount announced in the relief and rehabilitation package for those injured in the 2012 Bodo-Muslim ethnic clash of lower Assam. The same should be at par with the amounts awarded in incidents of similar nature of the past and due consideration of inflation and other factors must be taken for calculation of the enhanced amount. In the same lines, financial assistance for simple injuries [(D) ii in letter B] for the victims of the 2012 ethnic clashes of lower Assam announced as Rs. 10,000 must also be enhanced to a commensurate amount. b) Financial assistance for families whose houses have been burnt/damaged: Point number (iii) in Letter A provides for a financial assistance of Rs. 30,000 to persons whose houses got fully damaged. Point number E(a) in Letter B provides for a cash assistance of Rs. 20,000, clothing grant of Rs. 1300, utensils for Rs. 1400 and 3 bundles of GCI sheets to the families who houses have been burnt or damaged. Thus a cumulative cash assistance of Rs. 52,700 is being provided to families whose houses have been burnt or damaged. The same is irrespective of the build of the structure of the house. I. In letter dated 27th of April, 2007, No. 13016/4/07 from the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs addressed to the Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat, the Central Government had enhanced the financial assistance awarded by the State Government for damage of residential property and uninsured commercial/industrial property by as much as 10 times. For the same purpose, vide letter dated 23rd December, 2008, No. 13016/4/2007-NI.I, the Government of India sanctioned an amount of Rs. 262.44 Crores.

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II. Letter dated 16th of January, 2006, No. U.13018/46/2005 of the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs had also enhanced the financial assistance awarded by the State Government for damage of residential property and uninsured commercial /industrial property by as much as 10 times for victims of the 1984 Sikh Riots. III. I would like to bring to your notice a practice followed by the Government of Gujarat for relief and rehabilitation of victims of natural disasters. In letter dated 27th August, 2002, No. CLS/152001/2405/(2) of the Government of Gujarat, Revenue Department for assistance to victims of natural disasters, the Government had categorized huts and houses separately for purpose of determination of financial assistance. The Government also compensated victims for damage of home appliances and animal death. In letter dated 23rd February, 2001, No. PNV-162001-1502(1)-S.3 the Government of Gujarat announced a financial assistance of Rs. 40,000 for completely damaged huts, Rs. 90,000 for completely damaged houses and upto Rs. 30,000 for partially damaged houses. In light of the above, we would request you to reconsider and enhance the amount of financial assistance announced for families whose houses have been damaged in the recent lower Assam ethnic clashes. It must be taken into account that not only have the houses been damaged, people have also lost movable property inside the house, livestock and livelihood, including uninsured commercial property. Hence a detailed damage assessment must be conducted and the compensation must be awarded category wise commensurate to the amount of loss.

Response to this representation is awaited. Though the Gujarat Government had returned Rs. 19 Crores to the Central Government in 2002 saying that there was no need for relief, the continuous efforts of the civil society ensured that the victims get their dues. There is a clear discrimination in the distribution package which needs national attention in the light of this a representation highlighting this discrepancy has been brought to the notice of the Principal Secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management and Cooperation, Government of Assam, National Human Rights Commission, Assam Human Rights Commission, National Legal Services Authority (New Delhi), Hon'ble Mr Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, Chief Justice, State Legal Services Authority of Assam, District Legal Services Authorities of Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar and Dhubri, The Gauhati High Court Legal Services Committee, Deputy Commissioners and Sub-Divisional
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Officers of Chirang, Dhubri and Kokrajhar Districts through the above representation. The agenda of this representation is to enhance the amount of the menial compensation that is being provided without assessing the current situation. Another representation was made to the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) requesting them to provide para legal volunteers. As per the NALSA Paralegal Volunteers Scheme, 2010 each District Legal Service Authority has to build a cadre of para legal volunteers from the villages. These volunteers have to be trained in basic legal knowledge and would operate as first aid to provide immediate legal assistance. The CSJ-Rehnuma team requested NALSA to provide volunteers to assist in damage assessment. The Member Secretary of NALSA welcomed our suggestions and extended all help possible. At the moment the District judges are helping in the process of providing paralegal volunteers to help do the damage assessment. Right to Information applications have filed in all three districts asking for information on when the administration plans to close down camps running in schools and where they plan to shift the camps, because schools were scheduled to reopen on 16th of August. Information was sought in 48 hours. No reply received till date.

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6. Future Plan of Action

Identify and train local volunteers to carry out damage assessment, help people file FIRs, their entitlement claims etc. Each volunteer would collect

information/data of households and monitor them throughout the year or till they receive their entitlements declared by government. Lead National and state level advocacy and lobbying through data compilation and action research on the basis of ground situation and administered different packages by state and central governments. In addition to this we would also focus on lobbying with National Commission for Minorities and central government on the disparity of relief packages in comparison to other states. Sending regular ground updates to the National Commission for Minorities and work with the commission to seek updates from state government on legal and entitlement implementation processes, and help the commission to take proactive legal and administrative actions on the basis of emerging needs from the ground. Taking up claims for litigation both at the lower court and High Court level. Photo Documentation: The importance and the need for photo documentation, today the advancement of technology has become a vital component of human existence that allows preservation of memories and records time for ever. Damaged houses are not sights that people love to see, but it helps in understanding the gravity of the situation also how years of building of memories are reduced to ashes. Collecting photo evidence of damaged houses was initiated to substantiate the damage assessment being done. The process of photo documentation has been initiated. The idea is not to sell the apathy of the people but to record disasters so that the administration opens its eyes to see that today the standard of living of people had gone up and the menial compensation that they provide will not be able to rebuild leave alone their houses even their lives will not be rebuilt. Strengthening local civil society groups: As part of this intervention, we would also like to focus on strengthening capacities of local civil society organizations,
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students unions and community based organizations. To attain this objective we would strategically work in collaboration with local groups rather than implementing the intervention on our own. Our day to day

engagement/handholding and coordination meetings would be the platforms to strengthen their capacities.

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I.
District

Figures of the camp as Government Press Release on 24/8/2012

Total no of camps Camps as on today No of camp inmates Camps Closed Highest no. of inmates& camps reported Remarks

Inhabited by Bodo Community

Kokrajhar District

53

40

Inhabite d by Minority Commu nity 12

Inhabited by other Communit y 1

Bodo Communit y

Minorit y Commu nity 23,829

Oth ers

In the last 24 Hrs

Cumulativ e

26,969

105

37

Kokrajhar Sub Div Gosaigaon Sub Div Porbotjhora Sub Div

16 16 8

0 11 1

0 1

7,845 16,497 2,627

0 23,284 545

0 105 0

Total 1,82,505 nd On 2 August 2012 Total- 90 camps on th 25 July 2012

661 inmates added in last 24 hrs.

Total inmates:50,903 Chirang District Kajalgaon Sub Div 22 6 9 16 4,708 34,455 0 70 Total 1,04,064 nd on 2 August 2012 - Total - 92 th camps on 30 July 2012 1045 inmates added in last 24 hrs.

Bijni Sub Div

13

19

Total inmates 39,163

Dhubri District

133

133

Total - 1,75,829 st inmates on 1 August 2012 Total - 139 camps st on 31 July 2012 6

Dhubri Sub Div Bilasipara Sub Div

50

76,308

83

69,906

Total inmates: 1,46,214

Bongaigaon District Bongaigaon Sub Div Bijni Sub Div

14

14

5 9

4,528 7,442 Total inmates: 11,970

Total - 23,523 Inmates Total - 19 camps th on 30 July 2012

584 inmates left camps in last 24 Hrs.

Total

222

46

175

Total: 2,48,250

118

340 camps reported at the peak

Total:4,85,92 1 inmates reported at the peak

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II.

Total Relief material distributed

Total Relief materials distributed as per report of the Government on 24th Aug 2012 District Kokrajhar Rice (Quintals) 19800.576 Dal (Quintals) 3684.166 Mustard Oil (litres) 69455.8 Salt Qunitals) 1063.0237 Other 13343 pkt baby food, Soaps : 34,533, Mosquito repellent : 10,432, Candle 5183,Tarpauline 5,802, Petromax lamp 78, Sewai 92.978 qtls., Sugar 244.64 qtls. Milk 5568.4, Elaichi 6.575 Kg, Badam 26 kg , Kismis 8.5 Kg, Dakhona:22,199,Sari:15,123 Lungi:15,034, Gamocha:22,288 Baby Food: 4616 pkt, Soaps: 6000, Milk: 5440 pkt, Chira: 233.50 qnts. Gur: 80.4 qnts. Biscuit: 107040 pkts. Bleaching Powder : 5.60MT Chira- 23.00 qtl, Sugar- 101.29 qtl Baby food- 7254 Pkts, Biscuit- 4032 pkts., Amul milk- 400 pkts Mosquito coil- 16280 pkts., Candle7033 pkts, Tooth paste- 300 pkts Bathing soap- 18742 nos., Washing soap- 14751 nos., Sari- 900 nos., Lungi- 700 nos, Childres wear- 160 nos, Clothes 7730 pkts

Chirang

9796.16

1897.38

50671.75

570.24

Dhubri

17403.01

3274.75

88521.05

981.46

Bongaigao n

1159.08

177.332

3407.09

51.6425

Tarpaulin: 400pcs, Candle: 340pkt, Soaps: 1716, Baby food: 1953pkts, Biscuit -1185 pkt. Amul Spray 1185 pkt. Horlics 83 Bottles,Horlics Biscuit-581 Pkts,Every day Milk Whitner-967 Pkts, Cerelac-1185 Pkts ,Britennia Marry Gold Biscuit 1185 pkts ,Mother Horlics-83 pkts.

Total

48158.826

9033.628

212055.69

2666.3662

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III.

Overview of the plan

The team is operating with the vision to fulfill objectives of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), National Disaster Management Authority and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)

Programme Support Team from CSJ and Rehnuma (A Team of 6 Members) Hand holding support & Capacity Building
Volunteers from Bodo Community

Lobbying with state & central governments

Support to local Civil Society & CBOs

Members from Civil society orgs. & CBOs

Ensuring entitlements to violence affected people in Assam

Volunteers from Muslim Community

Outreach to 80000 families affected by violence

Engaging and Networking with National Commission for Minorities

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