Guwahati, Jul 2 : Egged on by the Assam State Commission for Women, four government departments — social welfare, education, health and police — are joining hands for a war on witch-hunting in Assam.
The plan is set for a launch with a meeting at Biswanath Chariali in Sonitpur, one of the worst affected districts, on July 7.It has, however, not come a day too soon as over 200 lives have been lost in the past seven years in Sonitpur, Goalpara and the Bodoland Territorial Area districts of Kokrajhar, Udalguri and Baksa.
Sources said the burying alive of four persons of a family on June 10 by fellow villagers at a place under Biswanath Chariali police station on charges of witch-hunting prompted the commission to target remote pockets dominated by Santhal, Oraon, Munda and Bodo tribes where the menace is more pronounced.
The choice of the July 7 venue is not without significance. The June 10 incident was the second since March 18, 2006 when five members of a family were beheaded by fellow villagers at Sadharu tea estate in the heart of Biswanath Chariali. The mob then marched to the local police station with the heads, chanting slogans denouncing witchcraft and black magic.
Sources in the chief minister’s office said besides the usual awareness meetings involving local people, NGOs, government officials, the police and commission members, the new strategy will launch critical development programmes like the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan.
These programmes will held in a sustained manner to weed out poverty, illiteracy and superstition, found to be the root causes of this menace, which according sources, claim at least 12 lives on an average in very remote BTAD areas for want of proper schooling and medical facilities.
As part of the plan, pointsmen like educationists and professionals will be appointed who can be in constant touch with the SDOs and BDOs and the villagers for effective implementation of the programmes.
Mridula Saharia, chairperson of the Commission, said: “It is time we did something as women are one of the worst-affected in witch-hunting. Entire families are being wiped out for nothing. We broached this topic before the chief minister last week and he assured us that he would help. Yesterday, I met social welfare minister Ajanta Neog, who, too,was very keen to help. Officials of the other departments are also eager. In the July 7 meeting, we will tone up the strategies because without a joint initiative it will be difficult to contain the menace. We are in the process of firming up the strategies. We will have more such meetings in the affected pockets. If we can take education and health facilities to these areas things will improve.”
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