Karbi Hill Needs to Fight against Social Evils

Priyanku Narayan Baruah

(The writer can be reached at alwayspriyanku@gmail.com)

Two men from Guwahati were lynched in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district recently on suspicion of them being child lifters. A grainy video shows a mob thrashing the two men — Abhijit Nath and Nilotpal Das, both in their 20s — with sticks, with others in the crowd kicking them. This is an incident that has again raised various questions. Why such anger? Why such inhuman approach? How could two innocents have been killed with such brutality?

Rest of the outcome and justice would have depended on administrative actions. We are glad that the Assam Government is taking fastest action this time and ordered for strict actions.

Here I am going through a careful review of the subject as post-observation rather than consume time in criticizing and condemning only. If we need to check such unfortunate happenings further, we must dare to work on the shortcomings of these hill areas’ social life. Civil societies and NGOs along with government and all must wish to march together to remove all sorts of drawbacks. Superstitions and frustration could be removed by education and economic recognitions.

Ignorance is the root cause of several ills and a fertile ground for propagation of superstitions and irrational beliefs. If a person is knowledgeable then there are greater chances that he or she will steer clear of such vices.

However, it is seen in Assam that well-educated persons and even scientists, for whatever reasons, subscribe to irrational beliefs. This is essentially due to the fact that right from infancy they have been seeing their parents, neighbours and others participating in senseless rituals, and when they grow up as adults these practices linger at subconscious levels; to shake them off entirely becomes very difficult. For example, even sensible persons pause when somebody sneezes or a cat crosses their way.

According to the problem tree, the villagers of these areas have faced several problems in the matter of their livelihood; the main ones being lack of knowledge, low production in the agricultural sector, antisocial activities and lack of marketing facilities, addiction to alcohol etc.

According to information collected, families are economically vulnerable. The study found that a majority of the villages have not got the benefits of government schemes and programmes properly. Political considerations coupled with bureaucratic red tape hindered many from getting even registered in the schemes since last few decades.

The cycle of conflicts in the region has created a history of impunity that is characterized by militarization that gives birth to violent politics and bad governance. The issue of good governance is no longer an academic exercise. On it hangs the fabric of growth.

There is a virtual collapse of the state, making it possible for antisocial elements to have their day.

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