As one travels along the highway towards Dhubri, Assam’s westernmost town, where the Brahmaputra takes a sharp southward bend to flow into Bangladesh, a dilapidated metre gauge railway line follows the road. This railway track was Assam’s vital link to Kolkata via the erstwhile East Bengal before India got independence. And the last train from Guwahati came to this town in early 2001, when it was attacked by militants, forcing the railways to stop it.‘‘Dhubri was once a major trade hub. But as the country progressed after independence, our town went the other way,’’ says school teacher Abdul Karim, 55, whose four sons are all college dropouts and unemployed. ‘‘I have heard they are talking about India shining. But since the sun sets in Assam, it is darkness all around, even during the day,’’ says Karim.‘‘When we pressed the local Congress MLA to get the railways to revive the train service, he said there are enough buses for the people to travel,’’ said Motiur Rahman, a Congress worker who shifted allegiance to the AGP last week.Dhubri till 1985 also had an airport at Rupasi. ‘‘But that too has become a dead monument,’’ says Shib Shankar Chatterji, a local scribe, who also names several of Dhubri’s famous residents. ‘‘Dhubri is Devdas Pramathesh Barua’s hometown. Here was born the legendary folk singer Pratima Pandey Barua, and the world-famous elephant expert Parbati Barua,’’ he says.Today Dhubri is a dead town, with the 60-year old match factory too pulling down its shutters a few years ago. ‘‘Even worse, the district has become a hub of militants,’’ Chatterji added. This border district is used as a transit by ULFA, NDFB and various other militant groups to cross over to Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra too has its share in the economic backwardness of Dhubri. Unabated erosion has virtually wiped out the South Salmara sub-division. Hundreds of Muslim families are rendered homeless every year. As Vajpayee’s India shines, Dhubri gropes in darkness and despair.
