All quiet and angry on the eastern front

Of the 821 polling booths in Nalbari, only 266 have been declared “comparatively safe,” the rest lie somewhere between highly and very sensitive.

If violence is demarcated, politics, too, is split. Nalbari district has no constituency of its own. Each quarter of Nalbari forms a part of a separateconstituency. Together, there are four: Mangaldoi, Barpeta, Guwahati and Kokrajhar. In the last elections, an independent candidate won from Kokrajhar; CPI(M) from Barpeta; AGP from Guwahati and Mangaldoi. “They all come to their areas, make different promises and when they became MPs, they concentrate on their districts. Nalbari is forgotten completely,” says local businessman Chandra Kolita said.

But there are times when Nalbari is remembered:

* On January 13, Bodo militants massacred 16 in Tulsibari outpost of Nalbari.

* On August 15 last year, Bodo militants killed 13 in Khoiramari and Meshkuchi villagers.

* And on August 18 last year, Bengali militants hacked to death 12 Bodos, including a two-year-old.

Politicians visited, inquiries were ordered. And Nalbari was forgotten till the next massacre.

Life for the 12 lakh people remains amazingly similar both sides of the highway. With the highest population density in Assam, Nalbari also has the highest rate of unemployment. The district, whichshares its border with Bhutan, is used by militants who have camps across the border.

There is the National Democratic Front of Bodoland which attacks Bengali Hindus, the Bengali Tiger Force retaliates by eliminating Bodos, the Bodoland Liberation Tiger Force fights the NDFB and eliminates non-Bodos, the ULFA kills “traitors” and those who speak against them. And all kill those who refuse to pay.

In the 1996 Assembly elections, the banned ULFA canvassed for many AGP leaders. In turn, they signed memos saying they would work towards lifting the ban. They promised tube wells, schools, electricity and much more. Most won but forgot the promises made to ULFA and the people.

This time round, the ULFA has called for a poll boycott and people are taking it seriously. “The ULFA’s sympathisers will not vote, that is a given. But most others will do so not just because of the threat but because they are disillusioned,” a school teacher said. The district’s divided loyalties are threatening to be entirely inthe militants’ favour.

But Nalbari’s problems go beyond militancy: no proper road except the National Highway, telephones remain a dream in most parts. Water shortage, hospitals without bandages, schools without teachers and corrupt block development officers. The few factories in the district have closed down. And like most abandoned Government buildings, the only synthetic fibre factory near Nalbari town is being used as a CRPF camp.

On December 31 last year, Lokesh Baruah, an MLA, and Praveen Sarma, AGP’s candidate from Guwahati LS constituency, came for a public meeting to Nalbari. The two leaders were told categorically that they had no right to ask for votes. Both were sent off with a list of promises they had made in 1996 and asked to return only when all were fulfilled. This was repeated in January when a state Minister Nagen Sarma came.

And today, no leader is stepping out to even raise slogan. “District leaders can be seen only when a leader from Guwahati or Delhi comes,” a shopowner said.But not many have come. Sikander Bakht is scheduled for later this week while the Chief Minister addressed a 1,000-strong crowd in Nalbari town on February 9 asking the ULFA to review its boycott call.

Most LS candidates, like AGP’s candidate from Kokrajhar, Louis Islary, are making unscheduled visits. On February 8, Islary came to a small marketplace, but canvassing was over in less than half-an-hour, without a trace.

The fear of poll violence is being taken seriously by the administration too. Superintendent of Police A.J. Baruah makes regular trips to remote villages asking people to vote. The vehicles screech to a halt in Banikushi village and people stop to stare at the men in khaki with daunting weapons. It could mean a raid or another arrest. Young men stop their game of carrom and raise their arms for the inevitable body search. All are frisked but nothing is found.

In Banikushi village, an ULFA stronghold, residents say they haven’t been threatened. Says a government doctor: “Militants evencome to my clinic with wounds. But I don’t inform the police. They are no threat to us.”. Still, he says he will not vote “because of the threat.”

In Nikasi, Kalita is the only doctor left in the government hospital following threats from militants. He will go and vote, he says. The risk, he insists, is worth a vote.

In Dhamdhama town, 76-year-old Dwarika Baruah, a Gandhian who was kidnapped by the NDFB in November last year, lectures in his Gram Lok Seva Sangh ashram on the merits of pit latrines. Released after 35 days in captivity on January 1, Baruah recalls his abductors with admiration. “They would give me hot water to bathe and every meal was served on time.” The NDFB had kidnapped him and asked for Rs 10 lakh as ransom but released him when he showed his passbook: there was little over Rs 300. Baruah isn’t interested in elections this time. “I don’t tell people to vote or not to. I too have not decided whether I will.”

Candidates are scared, their logic is simple: people are angry and therisk is too great. They are not taking chances. And perhaps, on February 16, voters too will not take a chance.