KOKRAJHAR, July 27 � Some semblance of normalcy was seen in this violence-hit district today even as the administration relaxed curfew.
People went about their daily business and markets were thronged by people.
But clearly there was hesitation in the people walking the streets as they all said they do not feel secured.
The fear that has gripped the people who have lost their homes, cattle and now do not have even the bare necessities, will take time and effort from the policy makers and authorities concerned to bring back confidence among the people.
In the relief camps, the inmates complained of not receiving sufficient food and access to safe drinking water. Even adequate medicines were not distributed to the sick.
�There is little food to feed the children two meals a day and so we elders go without food,� said Bijuli Basumatary of Bamungaon Bhatipara village sheltered in the Debargaon Higher Secondary School. Bijuli�s village was burnt down and most of the villagers are taking shelter in the relief camp set up in this school.
Another woman said that though their village was not burnt down, she and other villagers had left their homes out of fear.
�When I saw the smoke billowing from my neighbouring village, I got panic stricken. The other people in my village also got scared and some of us left the village,� said Sharani Basumatary from Chotomol Gaon. She along with her husband and two children have taken shelter in this relief camp.
The inmates haven�t yet decided about going back to their villages. All echoed the same feeling � only when security of life and property would be ensured by the authorities, would they return to their respective villages.
A BJP delegation led by MP Rajen Gohain and party national executive member Sarbananda Sonowal who met the inmates of various relief camps demanded that the Centre take note of the sentiments of the ethnic communities.
�When we interacted with the inmates at the relief camps, we were told that more than 3000 houses of Bodo people were burnt down in Pub Bilasipara Assembly constituency,� said Sonowal adding that the Congress has been backing the Bangladeshis for vote bank politics and the response of the Congress government towards the volatile situation was clearly indicating that the government was least bothered about the State and the indigenous people.
