Divided by riots,Muslims,Bodos queue separately

The mistrust since the riots has been so strong that the two communities have refused to cast their votes in the same polling booth. The authorities arranged for separate queues for the two communities in the Lok Sabha elections, says Bineswar Boro. On April 11 too,they expect a similar arrangement. The polling station is in the middle of the Muslim cluster.

We are scared of taking the road through the Muslim village after dusk, says Sumer Boro. The Muslims too live in fear. We go to Bodo villages for work but make sure we return before sunset, says Saukat Ullah,whose house was burnt during the riots. One of his brothers is yet to get the tin sheets promised.

Bina Boro too says,The government did give us the money Rs 10,500 but we are yet to get the three bundles of tin sheets. Her husband Praneswar goes out early every morning to a nearby town but struggles to find work.

No party or candidate has come to Jhargaon and the other riot-affected villages. Leaders who flocked to Jhargaon after the riots have forgotten us. A promised police outpost has not come up either, says Nagendra Boro,a schoolteacher.