Jumma man Ladu Moni Chakma was hacked to death Aug. 26 by a group of Bengali settlers at his home in the Sajek area of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh. His wife, Shanti Bala Chakma, who was also attacked, was taken to hospital. Local people believe that Ladu Moni Chakma was targeted because he had given information to members of the recently reformed Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission about settlers stealing land from the indigenous tribes of the area.

India's Border Security Force has launched a new initiative to combat "illegal" infiltration of peasants from Bangladesh into Assam and other northeastern states. The Assam Assembly witnessed noisy scenes last month after the state government announced that Bangladesh and neighboring Indian states were encroaching on the state's land. Assam authorities said nearly 500 acres of land was being encroached on by Bangladesh along the border while 87 hectares of land was illegally occupied by the states of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya and a small stretch by West Bengal. Scientists warn that low-lying Bangladesh, if inundated by sea-level rise and flooding, could send millions of refugees into neighboring countries. (Daily Green, Aug. 26; Assam Tribune, Aug. 25; Zee News, July 15)

Food riots erupted Aug. 27 in eastern India, where more than 2 million people have been forced from their homes and about 250,000 houses destroyed in the worst flooding in 50 years. One person was killed in Madhepura district when villagers clashed over limited supplies of food at overcrowded relief centres. The Kosi River in Bihar state smashed through mud embankments and changed course last week, inundating hundreds of villages and towns and killing nearly 50. The devastation has strained India's ties with Nepal, since the disaster is apparently due to deforestation and failure to maintain enbankments upstream in Nepalese territory. (Reuters, PTI, Aug. 27; Times of India, Aug. 28)

Indian authorities have deployed 3,000 police at Tata Motors' plant in West Bengal as protesters defied a threat from the company to halt production of the Nano model ultra-compact automobile in the communist-ruled state. About 30,000 local residents have occupied the plant since Aug. 23 to protest the confiscation of farmlands for the project. The Trinamool Congress, leading the protest, is demanding that 162 hectares of land be returned to farmers. Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee said "if someone tries to blackmail us we will not bow our heads." (Bloomberg, Aug. 27; BBC, Aug. 23)

Hindus and Christians clashed in Barakhama village in Kandhamal district of India's Orissa state Aug. 25 and the ensuing gunbattle resulted in the death of four local residents, including one woman. A curfew has been imposed in much of the district, and paramilitary police have been sent in. Sporadic incidents of arson attacks on churches continue to be reported across the district. An orphanage run by Christian missionaries in Khuntpali village, Bargarh district, was set ablaze on and a woman was burnt alive inside. A paralytic patient was also lynched and burnt. India's bishops have announced a day of prayer and fasting for peace. (CathNews, Aug. 27; IBN, Aug. 25)

In the latest in a series of such incidents in recent weeks, gunfire erupted across the Line of Control dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan Aug. 26, injuring four Indian border guards. Bala Subramanyam, spokesman for the Indian Border Security Force, told AFP: "It was not clear whether it was Pakistani troops or militants who fired at our positions." The firing across the LoC comes a day after Indian troops shot dead four militants during a battle along the ceasefire line. In a separate attack, militants killed an Indian soldier. (AFP, Aug. 26)

Sheikh Abdul Aziz, a leader of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, was killed as some 100,000 Muslim Kashmiris made an unprecedented attempt to breach the Line of Control (LoC) Aug. 11. In Chehel, about 28 miles from the LoC, where Abdul Aziz was shot, marchers pushed aside barricades and clashed with security forces, who fired on the crowd. One other marcher was reportedly wounded. Two armored cars were burnt in the nearby town of Baramullah. (London Times, NYT, Aug. 12) Twelve protesters were shot to death in different parts of India-controlled Kashmir Aug. 12—at least four of them at the funeral for Abdul Aziz in Bandipora. (Dawn, Aug. 13) The Press Trust of India places the two-day death toll in Kashmir at 21—mostly protesters shot by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). (PTI, Aug. 13)

Several separatist leaders are under house arrest in India-controlled Kashmir, as a complete general strike has paralyzed Srinagar for four days following the death of a protesting youth in the city Aug. 5. Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Shabir Ahmad Shah were placed under house arrest to prevent their proposed march to the headquarters of the UN Military Observers Group (UNMOG). (Indo-Asian News Service, Aug. 8)