Educating Children of Ethnic Conflict in the BTAD Areas of Assam, India

• In Event: 4167 - Section on Children and Youth Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Children & Youth Roundtable 6: Adolescent Education

Abstract

Human conflict has been a certainty since time immemorial. North East India is a region known for its multi-ethnicity and as a result ethnic conflict has had a long and violent history in the region. This has been a recurring problem affecting almost all facets of life in the areas which have experienced the perpetration of violence in the name of ethnic and cultural struggle.
The effect of ethnic conflict has been far reaching on the people of the Bodo Territorial Administrative Districts (BTAD) of Assam in India. The most vulnerable section of society affected by these conflicts are the children who face multiple negative consequences, such as displacement, poverty, exploitation, homelessness, interrupted education, discrimination, unhealthy living conditions, lack of resources, psychological distress, post-traumatic stress, and many more. These, in turn, endanger children’s healthy development in many ways.
Research suggests that one of the primary consequences of ethnic violence on children is their exclusion from education, which is a gross violation of the right to education. The outcome of violent conflict in the BTAD is displacement of families and settlements in forest encroached areas. Statistics from the BTAD areas on education, reports from other researchers, and NGOs attest that the plight of children regarding their right to education is lacking in many aspects. Many children from forest settlements have been excluded from education, which is their right.
Keywords: Ethnic conflict, indigenous Bodo, Muslim minority, child rights, relief camps, forest settlements

Author

• Indranee Phookan Borooah, Gauhati University