Island of peace amid Assam bloodshed

Untouched by the bloodshed, Kokrajhar’s Parbatjhora remains an oasis of peace.

Untouched by the bloodshed, Kokrajhar’s Parbatjhora remains an oasis of peace.

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With its lazy mornings, busy days, and calm sunsets, it seems a different world altogether, unsullied by the Bodo-Muslim violence that has ripped life apart in the rest of Kokrajhar and its surrounding districts.

Parbatjhora, located 287km west of Guwahati, is the state’s ethnic and religious melting pot. Its 44,000 people — inhabitants of 114 villages — comprise Bengali Hindus, Nepalis, Rajvansis, Adivasis, Garos and Rabha tribals.

Keeping peace is a longstanding tradition here, an unwritten pact renewed as late as 1994 after yet another Bodo-Muslim clash.
To survive, it was the smart thing to do.