Assam : Free for All?

Free for All?
M S Prabhakara writes from Guwahati:
The attacks on so-called Biharis, actually anyone considered Hindi-speaking, that have taken place in several parts of Assam, including in areas adjacent to the capital complex at Dispur in Guwahati, over the past few days have rightly caused concern nationally. During this same period incidents of violence have taken place in the Karbi Anglong autonomous district of Assam where the dominant Karbis and the minority Thadou Kukis are engaged in mutual bloodletting, muddying an already murky situation involving shady separatist outfits, some split against themselves. These clashes have now spread to parts of Meghalaya, into areas bordering Karbi Anglong that have for decades been a bone of contention between the two states. Stray incidents of violence, including an attempt to burn a person alive, have also taken place in Shillong. Nearly as many have been killed in these clashes as in the violence against so-called Biharis. Kidnapping, burning alive, beheading, rape and murder, violence against children and women, all these and more are taking place in these clashes. And yet these incidents have attracted much less notice than the incidents of violence against persons considered Hindi-speaking.