Guwahati: Bikash Tigga has lost all hopes of celebrating Christmas this year.
The 24-year-old devout Catholic lost his right leg in police firing on a protest against the massacre of Adivasi villagers. It happened two days before Christmas last year. Tigga says he was not part of the protest that was organized by a Bodo militant faction in Dhekiajuli in western Assam.
Tigga, one of the 17 injured. Three others died on the spot.
Tigga was caught in the crossfire between police and adivasi (tribals with roots in Chotanagpur in central India ) agitators and a stray bullet pierced his right leg.
He was brought to Gauhati Medical College Hospital in a serious condition and immediately shifted to the ICU, where he stayed for two weeks. He was later shifted to a prestigious private hospital in Delhi on January 14 this year but his limb could not be saved.
Tigga has little choice but to reminisce about the time he would take part in festivities in his native village of Monmohinipur, located within Monmohini Tea Estate.
“Christmas holds little charm for me and my family this year. I can’t even think of participating in any event. Suddenly, life is so hard. The violence has created a sense of uncertainty all around and instilled a feeling of fear in everyone here,” Tigga said.
“I am still waiting for the state government to offer me a job,” he added.
Tigga was a student and also earned for the family as a daily laborer at Monmohini Tea Estate in Sonitpur district. Tigga was on the street and caught in the crossfire when bullets hit him in the legs.
“Tigga was not taking part in the protest. He was out on work. It is a hopeless situation,” said B P Topu, member of the Adivasi Mukti Sangram Samiti (tribal liberation struggle committee).
Tigga is slowly getting used to confinement as his artificial limb does not function properly. His septuagenarian mother is currently the sole bread-winner in the family of five.
His father used to work as a daily wage laborer at a tea estate, but has now retired. His younger siblings have left their studies to do odd jobs to increase the family’s minuscule earnings.