Carnival

Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved

Rongali Bihu in Assam is "a unique new year festival. In reality it is a carnival" This photograph, was taken at Karbi Anglong district of Assam.

Farewell to arms?

all Photo@Arijit Sen-All Rights reserved

These are the faces that had unleashed a reign of terror in the Karbi Anglong district of Assam for the last 6 years. Four hundred and eight militants of the Karbi Longri National Liberation Front laying down arms hoping to talk about 'self-rule" with the UPA government. Each surrendered militant will get 2 lakh rupees as a one time grant from the state government and will move to designated camps. I met Habe Tokbi the chairman of the outfit. "No one can guarantee. If problems are not solved, then? After independence sixty years is over. But no development in Karbi Anglong", he said. More than 10,000 square kilometres of Karbi Anglong lie trapped in underdevelopment and terror.The Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council is present in pen and paper. Corruption, clashes between Karbis and Dimasas and attacks on Hindi-speaking migrant labourers from Bihar and Nepal have held back any progress. It is also unfortunate that it takes a militant group, a government to legtimise violence and talk development at a so-called arms decommissioing ceremony. Something that takes place often, almost as a routine in some states of northeastern India.

Hill Districts

The Hill districts of Assam, where I was travelling before the polls was deceptively quiet during the day of polling. At night this area presents a perfect picture of darkness and despair. Miles and miles of sugarcane fields, dark villages with houses open to the highways, bad roads, bad bridges and the constant fear of being ambushed by militants -- Karbi Anglong and North Cachar injects depression into every soul. It is difficult to realise the idea of election in these parts of India. Some political flags, some wall posters. Before elections, every night the Dimasa militants were targeting trains, killing people. The Karbi militants were abducting people, killing them. Strangely, on the day of the vote, the turnout was a near 60 per cent in these areas, the violence magically vanished. "They've been bought off," said our stringer. Maybe, he was right. After the polls, the violence and attacks on trains have begun yet again. These are some photographs taken in both Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hill Districts of Assam