Assam: Church aid for victims of ethnic hatred and usury
Dispur (AsiaNews) – The land of Karbi Anglong has long witnessed ruthless ethnic violence that left hatred and destruction in its wake. Now nature has rent its fury on this place. Fearful draught has struck villages in one of the poorest territories of the eastern state of Assam and now its residents risk dying of hunger as they struggle against spiraling usury.
The remoteness of the location makes the situation worse: some of the villages are accessible only on foot as the nearest road is about 16kms away.
Many of the inhabitants settled in the area since 1962, coming from the neighbouring states of Manipur and Nagaland. The villages have a total population of approximately 2608, which shares two shops (selling rice and sugar) and one school, composed of a room where one teacher works.
Food is considered a luxury and life is spent in the desperate search for money to better living conditions. Cultivating the land requires very heavy toil and many residents do not manage to make the bare minimum to survive. This year’s drought has made things worse. Practically no residents can live on what they earn now.
This is where money lenders come on the scene: they lend money at exorbitant rates of interest and landlords “concede” land in poor condition for cultivation. Residents have no choice but to accept. However, being sucked into this downward spiral costs many their life. Many of those who do not manage to repay their debts opt for suicide.
A local priest, Fr Tom Mangattuthazhe, described the situation as “pathetic” and told AsiaNews: “The villagers have toiled in the fields for ten months from morning to evening. Unfortunately they did not get enough rain this year and the yield of crops was not good. Now they have found themselves in the grasp of usurers.”
The priest, who coordinates the United Christian Forum, continued: “They need timely, concrete and specific relief. We chose villages with a high concentration of socially and economically marginalized groups but the rest also live in terrible conditions. We must not forget that they have been hard hit by ethnic conflict and natural disasters.”
Fr Mangattuthazhe said the Christian relief group had recently undertaken a tour of the villages where they met many afflicted people. “How were we going to console them when we know the situation in which they are headed? At times, my own words sounded shallow to my ears, yet we must continue to strive to bring hope.”
The peasants have asked the government and private organisations for aid many times but “no one ever came here to listen to them because the villages are too remote and uncomfortable to reach.”
The priest added: “I would be happy if we are able to give just one kg of rice to each of these people. The local media and politicians have only just begun to highlight their plight but we have been searching for a solution for some time. I will be grateful to the Lord for everything they manage to get.”
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08/01/2018 09:07
