from terrorism to tourism
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The case of the Bodo people in Manas Nationalpark, Assam, IndiaTRANSCRIPT
The challenging transition from „Terrorism“ to Tourism - The case of the Bodo community around Manas Nationalpark, Assam, India (Marcus Bauer, 2007)
Background
The Northeast of India comprises
the states of Assam, Arunachal-
Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizo-
ram, Nagaland and Tripura.[1] They are
connected to the rest of the country only
through a narrow funnel, nicknamed the
‚chicken neck‘.[2] Here the borders of
India‘s adjoining countries Bangladesh,
Bhutan, and Nepal converge to a few
kilometers. The corridor is the major
gateway to the Brahmaputra valley with
Guwahati, the capital of Assam, being
the nodal point for trade and communi-
cation for the entire Northeast.
On the one hand, politically, the re-
gion „has earned the dubious distinc-
tion for persistent underdevelopment
and growing insurgency“.[3] After the
independence of India and the restruc-
turing of the Subcontinent, the various
ethnic groups of the Northeast are still
in a self-fi nding process. Demands for
independent states or territories still
are uttered politically, and in some ca-
ses these movements have resulted in
the creation of extremist groups. Those
take advantage of the situation that „any
disturbance in the Brahmaputra Valley
and/or its adjoining hills brings the ac-
tivities in the whole of the N.E. Region
to a stand-still position.“[4]
On the other hand, in terms of tou-
rism, the region is promoted as a „pa-
radise unexplored“.[5] The area is cha-
racterized by a diverse landscape with
the Brahmaputra valley plains and the
surrounding mountain plateaus. This di-
versity refl ects in the abundant fl ora and
fauna and in the presence of more than
150 distinct tribal groups with their rich
cultural heritage. The „polite and hospi-
table people“ are classifi ed as a „virtue
of the NE-region“.[6]
The Bodos
Bodo people have settled all over
Northeast India and parts of Nepal.
They represent one of the largest ethnic
and linguistic groups of the Brahmapu-
tra valley.[7] According to the 2001
census, they „were the largest recog-
nized plain tribe in Assam comprising
1.2 million people or 5.3% of the total
population of Assam.“[8]
„Due to perception of negligence of
the Bodo areas by successive Govern-
ments in Assam since independence,
infl ux of migrants from other parts of
Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Bang-
ladesh, which led to alienation of tribal
land, though prohibited by the Assam
Land Revenue (Rules and Regulations)
1886“ the Bodo started searching a se-
parate Bodo identity.[9]
From March 1987 to February 1993
the All Bodo Student Union (ABSU)
led an agitation for a separate home-
land for the Bodos within the Indian
Union.“[10] This movement led to the
installation of the Bodoland Autono-
mous Council (BAC) in 1993. Accor-
ding to the Bodos, the „BAC failed to
fully meet the aspirations of Bodos and
ABSU again lunched an agitation de-
nouncing the accord and demanding
creation of a separate state.“[11] In
December 2003, the Bodo Liberation
Tigers (BLT), a militant movement, es-
tablished in June 1996, „renounced vi-
olence and surrendered along with arms
and ammunition at Kokrajhar, marking
an end to seven years of insurgency. On
the following day, an interim 12-mem-
ber executive council of the Bodoland
Territorial Council (BTC) was formed
in Kokrajhar.“[12] The underlying Me-
morandum of Settlement was to secure
„to assure all ethnic groups of deve-
lopment, equality, security and growth
with stability“.[13]
The challenging transition from “Terrorism” to Tourism
The case of the Bodo Community around Manas Nationalpark, Bodoland, Assam, India
Once a war dance, today a cultural programme performed for tourists by the
Bodo women and thus conserved as a cultural asset.
© R
. Loose
The challenging transition from „Terrorism“ to Tourism - The case of the Bodo community around Manas Nationalpark, Assam, India (Marcus Bauer, 2007)
The latest Bodo accord brings the
promise of a lasting peace in the
Bodo areas and to a larger ex-
tent across the Assam Valley. Its
impact in other sites should also
not be ruled out for a major group
has shown that power fl ows from
political wisdom and realism, not
just from the barrel of a gun or
through angry rhetoric.
BO D O L A N D TE R R I T O R Y
CO U N C I L
But the time of insurgency had left
scars in the region. During the move-
ment the Bodo community depended
a lot on forest resources and the rather
impenetrable areas served as a hide-out
for militants. Moreover, the established
national and international poaching net-
work took advantage of the unstable si-
tuation. Manas Nationalpark with its
dense forestation, grasslands and rich
wildlife, was badly affected.
Manas Nationalpark
In 1985, UNESCO honored the „great
physical beauty“ and the „great natu-
ral diversity“[14] by adding the Manas
Sanctuary to the World Heritage. The
Protected Area supports „22 scheduled
species, and it is the richest in species
of all Indian wildlife areas“.[15] Parts
of it had been a forest reserve since
1907, and in the 1970s it was declared
a Sanctuary for the Rhino and a Pro-
ject Tiger Site. In 1990 the Sanctuary
was upgraded to a 52,000 ha large Na-
tionalpark [16], only two years before
the UNESCO took the dramatic step to
add it to the „List of World Heritage in
Danger“.
On a gentle slope in the foothills
of the Himalayas, where wooded
hills give way to alluvial grass-
lands and tropical forests, the Ma-
nas sanctuary is home to a great
variety of wildlife, including many
endangered species, such as the
tiger, pygmy hog, Indian rhinoce-
ros and Indian elephant.
UNESCO WO R L D
HE R I T A G E CE N T E R
Today efforts are undertaken to en-
large the Protected Area by „promoting
the nomination of the Royal Manas Na-
tional Park in Bhutan as a future World
Heritage site and part of a transbounda-
ry park to improve the protection of the
whole Manas ecosystem on both sides
of the border.“[17]
The Manas Maozigendri model – a Blueprint for Com-munity Conservation
The importance of Manas started
being discussed [18] as soon as the
peace process started and in December
2003 a few ABSU youths from the Cha-
paguri Kokilabari Anchalik Committee
decided to form a society to create a
Bird Conservation area in their part of
Manas, namely the eastern part of the
core area of Manas Tiger Reserve under
Bhuiyanpara range. The Tiger Project
management supported the idea and the
fi rst action was to stop the sale of meat
of wild animals in the nearby market
known as Lakhi Bazar and the procu-
ring of timber from the forest. The peo-
ple had faith in the ABSU youths and
this was the start of a new movement.
The youths had managed to initiate sur-
render of local hunting arms (country
guns known as gazimara, spears, traps,
catapults etc.) by the poachers from the
adjoining villages and patrol their area
of Manas to keep away poachers and
timber extractors.
In 2005, the movement took a larger
shape with the involvement of NGOs
and people from the travel trade, princi-
pally Help Tourism. A strong platform,
the „Manas Maozigendri Ecotourism
Society“ (MMES) was established.
The main motivation was to free Ma-
nas from the UNESCO list of „World
Heritage Site in Danger“ and bring back
its past glory. Several departments we-
re formed, with volunteers undertaking
the different jobs to make the communi-
ty conservation a success in the eastern
core area of the Manas Tiger Reserve
and create a ‘Bodo Buffer’. Help Tou-
rism after extensive discussions with
the volunteers and several departments
set up goals for MMES:
• Free Manas from UNESCO List of
„The World Heritage in Danger“
• Confi rm Conservation of Manas in
Totality as a World Heritage Site.
• Address to people‘s livelihood in vil-
The Bengal Florican is a ‚critically endangered‘ species with habitat in Manas
and a major benefi ciaries of the Bodos‘ community conservation efforts..
© S
uja
n C
hatt
erj
ee
The challenging transition from „Terrorism“ to Tourism - The case of the Bodo community around Manas Nationalpark, Assam, India (Marcus Bauer, 2007)
lages around the protected areas &
non reserves of the area
• Organize developmental works in the
villages concerning the conservati-
on, social, cultural, medical & agri-
cultural aspects.
• Revive the traditional conservation
cultures of the Bodos
• Develop better trans-border relation
with Bhutan
The area that the youths patrolled
and could control was named the Ma-
nas Maozigendri Conservation Area,
following the name of the local stream
Maozigendri taken from the Bodo le-
gend. The youths along with villagers
developed patrolling roads, protection
camps etc with the participation of the
villagers. The surrendered poachers ha-
ve been engaged in patrolling and some
of the educated youths have been vo-
lunteering for important species moni-
toring program, which includes Bengal
Florican, Great Hornbill, Python, Ele-
phant, Tiger and Capped Langur.
To get the confi dence of the fringe
villagers, the volunteers run awareness
programs, medical camps, garment
banks etc. and have taken to ecotourism
development for a better livelihood pro-
cess and global recognization. Hospi-
tality, handicrafts, cultural demonstra-
tion, wildlife experience etc. are being
developed gradually. The development
of ecotourism was not only considered
to be a major livelihood process but
also as a support of the conservation
initiative.
Recognization has started coming
but there is long way to go and support
is needed to develop this as a model for
‘community participation in conser-
vation’. The Tiger Project authorities
and the BTC are paying remuneration
for the ex-poachers on patrol duty and
have provided radio wireless sets to be
in touch with the park authorities from
the fi eld. The responsibility of the cen-
tenary closing ceremony for the Manas
Reserve had been given to MMES,
and in 2006 the MMES initiative was
awarded with the INTACH environ-
mental award.
The process has not been very
smooth, the poaching and illicit tree
felling lobby has every now and then
attacked the volunteers, the protec-
tion camps and even instigated adjoi-
ning villagers to destroy the protection
camps. The BTC being a newly formed
council, and being much dependent on
the state has often discontinued to pay
the patrolling volunteers due to fi nan-
cial crisis. The Tiger Reserve authori-
ties having no resolution or policy to
give the volunteers a full fl edged legal
status to protect their own backyard fo-
rests, which happens to be the core of
the Tiger Reserve, it is diffi cult for them
to support them with arms and radio
wireless systems that were needed for
a fully professional park management
.
Ecotourism aspects
Near Koklabari a small resort with
fi ve cottages, and kitchen cum di-
ning, the Manas Maozigendri Jungle
Camp, was built with maximum usage
of local material and manpower. People
from the near-by village has been trai-
ned up as staff to cater for the tourists
and to provide guiding. Moreover, two
existing buildings were designated as
guest houses, providing basic accom-
modation facilities for 20 guests. Addi-
tionally, 20 families have been trained
up to offer homestays.
During their stay in the area, visitors
are registered as temporary members
of MMES and they participate in the
conservation activities undertaken by
MMES volunteers. In addition to the
excursions to the Park, educational
programmes have been worked out to
introduce the guests to the Bodo cul-
ture and tradition, including music and
dance, local bamboo and silk weaving
craftsmanship, or processing of the lo-
cal rice beer ‚Zu mai‘. The stay in close
contact with the Bodo community mo-
reover introduces the visitors to the re-
ligion of Biodivinity, the Bodos‘ rituals
of worshipping nature.
The successful model implemented
by MMES led to the establishment of
several more initiatives of the same pat-
tern around the Protected Areas of Ma-
nas, like in Zumduar, Ultapani, Kala-
mati, Bansbari. Till date approximately
1000 volunteers are engaged in nature
protection and ecotourism activities.
Conservation Camps safeguard the entry points to Manas Nationalpark and
serve as a coordination point for local and visiting volunteers.
© M
. Bauer
The challenging transition from „Terrorism“ to Tourism - The case of the Bodo community around Manas Nationalpark, Assam, India (Marcus Bauer, 2007)
Conclusions
Tourism currently gets prominent
attention as an important factor for
the sustainable development of the East
Himalaya, e.g. by Asian Development
Bank (ADB). The MMES initiative
and the Bodos′ path towards peace and
stability – both major requirements for
tourism – can be cutting-edge prototy-
pes for the whole Northeast of India.
Nevertheless, successful tourism deve-
lopment is still hampered. Bad commu-
nication, especially the lack of impor-
tant link roads, poor telecommunication
facilities, shortages in electricity supply
and power cuts are obstacles that deri-
ve from overall weaknesses regarding
regional development. Lack of training
and qualifi ed staff is a factor that can
be infl uenced from within the commu-
nities with basic external support. But
the most challenging infl uence is the
bad reputation the region still suffers
from. Efforts are undertaken towards
improving the image. But as long as
external information on the region, es-
pecially by the Foreign Offi ces of the
major tourism source countries, is ne-
gative, broad spill-over effects of the
promising role model is unachievable.
The situation is paradox: The same go-
vernments support the development of
the region and initiate biodiversity con-
servation programmes on the one hand.
And on the other hand they are advising
their tourists to consider their need to
travel thus condemning their own de-
velopment projects. A closer look at the
ground reality in the different parts of
the region and more detailed informa-
tion was advisable and is technically
feasible.
References:
[1] Sikkim is the eight state of Northeast India, but is not
refl ected in this text due to differing geographical lo-
cation.
[2] The origin of the corridor dates back to the year of
India‘s independence in1947 when after the division of
Bengal the area was separated into the Indian state of
West-Bengal and East Pakistan, which in 1971 became
the independent state of Bangladesh. The purpose of the
establishment was to allow India access to the state of
Assam with the Brahmaputra valley.
[3] P.R. Bhattacharjee and P. Nayak: Vicious circle of insur-
gency and underdevelopment in North East India, p.1
http://www.freewebs.com/nehu_economics-a/vcircle_ner.pdf
[4] ibid, p.3
[5] India tourism campaign launched in 2006
http://www.fi nancialexpress.com/old/latest_full_story.php?content_
id=135292
[6] Mrinmoy K Sarma: A ‚paradise unexplored‘
http://www.tezu.ernet.in/dba/Faculty/mrinmoy/Vision.pdf
[7] See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodo_people
[8] Parliament of India Rajya Sabha, 102nd Report on the
Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (Amendment) Bill,
2003 & The Constitution (99th amendment) Bill, 2003
http://rajyasabha.nic.in/book2/reports/home_aff/102ndreport.htm
[9] ibid.
[10] Sudhir Jacob George: The Bodo movement in Assam
– Unrest to Accord, Asian Survey, Vol. 34, No. 10 (Oct.,
1994), pp. 878-892
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-4687%28199410%2934%3A10
%3C878%3ATBMIAU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5&size=LARGE&ori
gin=JSTOR-enlargePage
[11] Bodoland Territory Council website
http://www.bodolandcouncil.org/aboutus.htm
[12] South Asia Terrorism Council
http://satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/terrorist_
outfi ts/bltf.htm
[13] Bodoland Territory Council website
http://www.bodolandcouncil.org/aboutus.htm
[14] United Nations Environmental Programme, World
Conservation and Monitoring Center
http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/manas.html
[15] ibid.
[16] ibid.
[17] ibid.
[18] All information about the MMES project derives from
a personal site visit in October 2005, regular mail up-
dates on the project progress (mostly documented on
www.manasnp.wordpress.com), and a personal discus-
sion about the project with Mr. Raj Basu, MD and foun-
der of Help Tourism, Siliguri in October 2007
Marcus Bauer is a freelance con-
sultant and journalist with focus on
tourism and South Asia. He holds a
master‘s degree in Sustainable Tou-
rism Management and a Diploma in
Travel and Tourism Management.
October 2007
Today visitors can actively join hands with the Bodo in their effort to remove
Manas Nationalpark from the list of World Heritage in Danger.
© R
. Loose