The West Karbi Anglong district of Central Assam has been boiling for days. It has been concerning how widespread and severe the violence has become, involving law enforcement officers like the police.
There have apparently been attacks on police officers using improvised bombs, stones, and arrows. On Tuesday, stores and homes were set on fire, and Tuliram Ronghang of the BJP, the head of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), had his home set on fire.
According to the state DGP, violence struck Assam's West Karbi Anglong district on Wednesday, prompting the deployment of the Army to preserve law and order.
A long-standing land dispute between tribal and non-tribal communities is the source of the unrest, which has resulted in two fatalities and at least 45 injuries, including 38 police officers.
On Tuesday, the Assam government, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, suspended internet services in the West Karbi Anglong and nearby Karbi Anglong districts.
Earlier on Wednesday, the news agency PTI stated that although the situation was still tight, everything was under control.
The news agency said that there were no additional reports of violence on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Prohibition orders continued to be in effect, and more security personnel were stationed across sensitive areas.
Protesters attacked police with stones, arrows, and homemade bombs during the skirmishes in the Kheroni area of West Karbi Anglong, injuring at least 38 to 58 police officers, including top IPS officers and the state DGP. Large fires started in market areas, gas cylinders were hauled out and exploded, and shops were vandalized.
According to the Times of India, which cited Assam DGP Harmeet Singh, "arrows, stones, and crude bombs" were used to attack the police officers.
On Tuesday, two fatalities were recorded. One man from the Bengali community was killed in an arson attack in the Kheroni market, while another man from the Karbi community perished during police intervention.
According to the Assam Tribune of Guwahati, Suresh Dey, a Bengali man, had a disability. He was trapped inside a burning structure and burned to death, while the Karbi community protester died from wounds.
Police intervention against hunger strikers protesting purported encroachment on tribal land served as the immediate catalyst. For more than two weeks, indigenous Karbi tribes and other tribal organizations had been holding an indefinite hunger strike in Phelangpi in the Kheroni region, demanding that settlers be removed from Village Grazing Reserves (VGRs) and Professional Grazing Reserves (PGRs).
After nine hunger strikers were arrested late on Sunday night, tensions dramatically increased. According to police, the reason for their detention was to transfer them to Guwahati for medical care because their health had worsened.
Road blockades, vandalism, and ultimately widespread violence resulted from the tribal members' growing rage as word of the detentions spread on Tuesday.
When demonstrators set fire to KAAC Chief Executive Member Tuliram Ronghang's home in Donkamokam, around 26 kilometers from Kheroni, the turmoil took a dangerous turn. Donkamokam is also Ronghang's constituency, according to some reports.
Tear gas, rubber bullets, and blank shooting were used by police to scatter crowds, but the violence persisted, and by Tuesday, fighting had extended over parts of the Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong districts.
The Assam government halted mobile internet and data services in Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong after the violence, citing concerns that social media could be used to disseminate false information and escalate tensions. A "likelihood of a breach of public peace and tranquillity" was issued by the Assamese Home Department.
A long-standing land dispute related to Karbi Anglong's position under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which offers unique protections for tribal territory and self-governance through autonomous councils, is at the center of the issue.
The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which gives tribal-majority territories particular autonomy and land safeguards to protect indigenous populations' rights, culture, and sovereignty over land and governance, applies to Karbi Anglong.
Protesters claimed that non-tribals, including those from outside Assam, have illegally seized substantial portions of VGR and PGR property, which they said was intended only for indigenous tribes.
According to tribal organizations, ongoing encroachment jeopardizes their identity, livelihood, and land rights. Alleged settlers received eviction orders from the KAAC administration last year; however, these were contested in the Gauhati High Court, which granted an interim stay, leaving the matter unsettled.
Following a heavy security deployment, senior police personnel and Chief Minister Sarma kept a careful eye on the situation.
Sarma is scheduled to preside over a meeting with all parties involved, including the Autonomous Council, on December 26. Officials are still wary, though, because violence had previously erupted again shortly after political figures had left the region.
According to news agency PTI, the Assam DGP said on Wednesday afternoon that the Army was stationed in the West Karbi Anglong district to uphold law and order in the area affected by unrest.
It is particularly susceptible to flare-ups due to the demographic makeup of Karbi Anglong and the West Karbi Anglong districts, Sixth Schedule safeguards, and unresolved eviction conflicts.
In order to safeguard tribal interests and manage development in the Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong districts, the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution established the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, an autonomous district council in Assam.
The Karbis make up the largest community in Karbi Anglong, one of Assam's largest districts, followed by the Dimasa, Garo, and Kuki tribes. Scheduled Tribes made up more than 55% of the district's population in the 2001 Census.
In a similar vein, almost 65% of the people living in the West Karbi Anglong district are Scheduled Tribes. Political representation, land, and identity are still closely related, and any perceived state action or in action quickly becomes unstable.
Calm has returned to Kheroni for the time being, but the events of the last few days highlight the harsh reality that peace in Karbi Anglong may remain precarious in the absence of a long-term settlement to land conflicts and mutual trust.
