The ethnic cleansing campaign unleashed by the majority Dimasa tribe in collusion with its political wing, the Dimaraji Demand Revival Committee (DRDC) and its militant arm wing, The Dima Halam Daoga (DHD), against the minority Hmar tribe in Cachar and N.C.Hills districts of Assam in the pursuit of carving out a “Cachar for Kacharis” must rank among the most abominable acts of savagery, intolerance, and ignorance.

The campaign has resulted in generating hundreds of indigenous internally displaced persons who are crossing over to Manipur, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. Unlike the refugee movement, this takes place within national borders. Since they have not crossed the border they mostly do not have any special legal status. However, they have special needs arising out of their displaced conditions. Taking into account the humanitarian and human rights context, the internally displaced are considered as the single largest 'at risk population' as they are more vulnerable to hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and insecurity.

However, the State Government of Assam is deliberately blinding its eyes with the futile attempt to forget as it feigns. As a result, the displaced are compelled to resort to cross over to the adjoining states for security and shelter. In the immediate context, very little progress has been made to assess the magnitude and depth of the problem.

The grisly episode which testifies to the heinous mindset of the forces at work has not been condemned yet. Maybe the Government of Assam as well as the Central Government are not really interested in striking the roots to solve the macabre pogrom which has already spilled over to the neighbouring states of Assam. The Government of Assam has to step in immediately if it still has a space for the national’s interest. The Government has to rip its masquerading eyes and wake to the forces of troublesome irredenta, which is the political expression of the DRDC and DHD.

Otherwise, the Government of Assam is hatching a Frankenstein monster for its morrow. Needless to say that, given the sort of challenge Assam is facing at the moment, it is of paramount importance that the government safeguards the rights of the indigenous minority tribes. Meanwhile the Hmar tribe continue to be the soft prey while the DRDC and the DHD, pumped by its politicians sought to gain their diabolical ends by creating a sense of insecurity, lawlessness, fear and alienation.

The ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign ought to be negatively appreciated, as it is an attack, not only to the indigenous minority tribes, but also to the larger, diverse and plural structure of India. The pogrom-conveyed message is clear. It sought to deconstruct the essence of that structure. It is more obtruse when the DHD could not wash its hands off from the inhuman pogrom.

In doing so, they broke the ground rules of the ceasefire with the Government of India effective from January 1, 2003, which extends for a period of six months. They seem to have no self-respect. No respect for their words. What else they are, then an old flibberti gibbet. The DHD designed and monitored involvement is the more evident when in one of the Hmar village (Sharon) in N. C. Hills was attacked using mortars and rocket launchers. Besides these, the sequence of events clearly points to the obsessive involvement of the DHD in its sheep clothing.

What is of the worst is that their actions are sealed and covered by the state machineries at the direction of their vested politicians who selfishly propagates themselves as the saviour of the people. The Hmars are all the more ‘awed and shocked’ to witness the outcome of this collusion. This becomes more evident when, on the 16th of April, the army caught one Mr. Langthasa Dimasa with three AK-47 rifles in his Government-provided vehicle in Haflong. Small gods, as they are, with their affluent political backings and powers.

This incident may not surface in the newspapers again. No doubt the reason. Worst of all, he may go scot-free as always before. It is disheartening to realize that the actors are mainly political stalwarts holding high-profile offices. Streams of questions follows here. But never answered. It is more of an act of cowardice and weakness when the DHD and the Dimasa politicians want to acquit from its seemingly covert, but surfacing role.

What further ignited the Hmar’s ire is the fact that when the Home Minister of India I. D. Swamy visits the conflict-torn area in Cachar, he blamed the ISI for the whole flare-up. What an ablution we have here again. If the State, particularly in the case of the ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign seeks for an external factor to bear the shame and pain, every effort to solve the problem will be abortive. The root causes are internally embedded and much alive. I fear that one day they will blame the ISI for our droughts and floods. Such baseless alibi only exhumes the inefficiency and inability of the state to solve the problem. If not its deliberate unwillingness. Or worse, its approval of the whole design.

The Central Government seems to be accepting the North-East as the symbol of societal stress. This helped them to evade from dealing with the real strategic cause of the region’s multiplying immense problems. The Government is partly to be blamed for this. Its negligence has to a great extent, blurred the prospects for a transition to a peaceful and developmental paths. It has further stirred and generates unrest, corruption and stagnation in every field.

As a result, ethnic and regional splits are deepening. As these severe conflicts multiply, it will become apparent that something else is afoot, making it unruly and ungovernable. The future could be more tumultuous and bloodier than now if the State remains soft and silent as ever. The Hmar’s ire should be immediately addressed.