A section of indigenous women held a rally with black flags protesting against setting up a TSR camp at Baishnab Colony under Kalyanpur and process to bring back the people who fled Baishnab Tila owing to mindless attacks by insurgents around two decades ago.

Even as the rally was seemingly ‘apolitical’, the presence of a particular political party in the background could easily be understood, locals commented. The rally was held on Tuesday.

Around two decades ago, people from the Baishnab Tila left behind their properties and went to a safer place in the wake of ethnic violence unleashed by insurgents. Around 400 families are still residing at camps at Dauchhara and Amar colony under West Ghilatali.

“Several areas under the Khowai district witnessed barbaric attacks of the insurgents during the 90s. Baishnab Tila was one of those areas. Fearing for life, the exodus of people from the area started. While many of them managed to settle in other places, around 400 families took refuse in Dauchhara and Amar Colony camps”, locals said.

Uprooted and forlorn, the refugees are spending life in the camps – during the Left Front ruling, no effort was made to bring back these uprooted back to their native village. However, after the BJP-IPFT government assumed power in the State, steps were initiated by the local MLA under the direction of Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb. As part of the steps, a TSR camp was proposed to be set up at Baishnab Tila to maintain peace and tranquillity.

A high-level delegation recently visited the area for constructing a TSR Camp.

“Everything was going on smoothly and there was no apparent resentment among the indigenous people living in the area. Meantime, the camp inmates also started dreaming about returning to their ancestral place”, said an inmate of Dauchhara.

However, a particular political party with vested interests reportedly stepped in and organized one apolitical rally by indigenous women of Baishanab Tila and adjoining areas. The participants, carrying black flags, raised slogans against putting up a TSR camp and the return of the camp inmates.

Over the years, the situation in Kalyanpur and adjoining areas became peaceful and people of indigenous and non-indigenous people were living in harmony – however, the aggressive rally held on Tuesday, created large-scale resentment among peace-loving people, opined informed sources.