00:03Every day we'd hear that someone has killed a Boro, someone has burned a Boro village.
00:10A conflict that has lasted for decades, that has left its mark on two communities.
00:18Here in a village in Assam, the Boro and Santal tribes were fighting each other,
00:23until, of all things, a martial art brought peace to the people
00:27and helped them break with outdated traditions.
00:31I also had my doubts. She won't get married, she will face harassment.
00:38Thanks to two men who were once enemies, a younger generation can now leave this conflict behind.
00:45I wanted our village to live in peace, but how does one do that?
00:51This is the story of how Kom Lai Nei made all this possible.
01:18Kom Lai Nei is a traditional combat sport of the Boro people from Assam in North East India.
01:24Played barefoot on open ground, the sport is centuries old and has its origins in self-defence.
01:35The rules are simple. Three rounds, two fighters.
01:39And the bout ends the moment one man or woman throws the other cleanly to the ground.
01:51But here, in the village of Goro Basa, Kom Lai Nei isn't just about proving strength anymore.
01:57It's being used for something new.
02:02In sports, there's no discrimination.
02:04Your religion, your language, your class, ethnicity, doesn't matter.
02:11The Boro and Santal communities of Assam have a long history of conflict.
02:18Disputes over land and political recognition hardened inter-ethnic tension,
02:24which, over decades, turned violent.
02:33In the worst periods, people had to flee overnight to escape attacks from paramilitary armed forces.
02:43The violence came to an end 20 years ago.
02:47But its effects remain visible.
02:51The two communities live and work in the same village, but they never mix.
02:58They have their own sports, their own schools, their own homework.
03:10Even when they are neighbours, Boro and Santal children never talk with each other.
03:15They play separately.
03:18So the playground, meant for everyone, sits mostly empty.
03:26The only thing I was looking for was peace in the village.
03:28I wanted to stop the hatred between Boro's and Santal's.
03:31I wanted our village to live in peace, but how does one do that?
03:37Mejing Nasari is a Boro sports coach.
03:41He was only 10 during the worst years of the conflict.
03:47Each day, Mejing rides past the relief camps where his family lived during the riots.
03:59Every day, you'd hear that someone has killed a Boro.
04:04Someone has burnt a Boro village.
04:06A Boro girl has been raped.
04:10You want to take revenge when you see things like this.
04:14After witnessing all of this, I wanted to pick up arms.
04:21At age 11, he joined the Boro Land Territorial Army, drawn by the promise of defending land, identity and a
04:28future that felt under threat.
04:30While preparing to join the armed insurgent wing, operations by the Indian Army dismantled its structure.
04:37He never took up arms.
04:40When we had to leave to join the insurgent group, we heard that an operation was undertaken in Bhutan by
04:46the Indian Army, and that they were killing Boro rebel fighters.
04:49Our team decided that we will all go underground.
04:54In the years that followed, Mejing found martial arts, a different kind of fighting, not about territory or revenge, but
05:02discipline and control.
05:04Over time, Mejing began to believe that sport could do what politics and anger had failed to do, bring his
05:10village back together.
05:13The mentorship that my elders should have provided to me but couldn't, I had to provide it to the next
05:17generation.
05:18I wanted to bring peace to my society.
05:20I wanted to develop my society's youth.
05:22I had to convert conflict into peace.
05:26He started close to home and began training Boro children first, but his goal extended beyond his own community.
05:36When I started working through sports to change my society, at times, I used to be afraid.
05:41What will people say when they hear about what I'm trying to do?
05:44Will they let me continue with my work?
05:56In the start, only Boro kids used to come.
05:59No one from the Sandhal community would come.
06:02I heard that I should talk to Khermu Kormakar, who is the general of the Sandhal insurgent force.
06:07I decided to meet and convince him to send Sandhal kids to play Khom Laine.
06:15And that's how Khermu Kormakar came into play.
06:18A general of the Sandhal Cobra force, an armed group formed to protect Sandhal people through armed combat against the
06:26Boro tribe.
06:29The fact that Mejing asked him was extremely unusual.
06:34Even though Khom Laine is a traditional Bodo sport, children from our tribe gain confidence by participating in it.
06:40And it is our duty to support them.
06:44For years, men like Khermu and Mejing stood on opposite sides of the same story.
06:50Now they visited homes together, speaking to parents from both communities,
06:54asking them to send their children to play together, onto the same field.
07:01Among the many people they met was Sangeeta, a young girl with whom their message resonated.
07:10Ever since I was a child, I have been interested in sports.
07:14I love making new friends, talking to them.
07:18I love these aspects of sports.
07:21If we continue participating in sports together, which strengthens our bond, then we can unite.
07:29Bodos and Sandhals.
07:30I don't know why we live and play separately.
07:33Sometimes I think, what would happen if we lived together?
07:37Maybe it would be better for all of us.
07:47Sangeeta's mother is a single Santal parent.
07:50She was initially reluctant.
07:54Sending her daughter to train in a sport associated with the Boru community carried social risks.
08:03Yes, I was worried.
08:04People told me she won't get married, and that she will face harassment.
08:12I also had my doubts, but I wanted her to learn more, so I didn't stop her.
08:17I told her to go.
08:18I'll handle whatever happens.
08:27Most of the children here are between 10 and 16 years of age.
08:32They come from farming, low-income and small village business families.
08:37Out on the training ground, they start with the basics.
08:47Yes, yes, yes.
08:48Then, sooner than they expect, they're matched against each other.
08:55At first, the children felt uneasy in each other's presence.
08:59But soon, this tension turned into camaraderie.
09:13Over time, children from both communities began training together.
09:18On the training ground, the friendships they had built through sport held firm.
09:41When violence returned to the region in 2014, their response was different from the generation before them.
09:49In 2014, when the last riots happened in our village, we saw that the kids who were playing Kom Lainé
09:55changed.
09:56We saw that kids were calling each other and asking each other about each other's family.
10:01Did they get any food?
10:03Where are you staying?
10:04Do you need anything?
10:07After a while, the attitudes of the parents also began to change.
10:15My name is Orga Narzi, and yes, my daughter plays together with children from the sandal community.
10:22Yes, I thought about injuries and society's opinion.
10:25But seeing my daughter's strong interest and desire to fulfill her dream, I decided to support her completely.
10:31Sports can bring peace and positive change.
10:34In sports, there is no discrimination.
10:36Children from Bodo, Sandals, and other communities play together and learn unity.
10:41This is something many parents would never have expected.
10:45Like Monisha's mother.
10:47Monisha is part of the first generation of Boro kids training with children from the Sandal tribe.
10:53There is no difference between Sandal and Bodo children.
10:56The more we play together, the more we realize that we are the same.
11:01Through sport, I have learned that unity is strength.
11:10Today, the village has organized a Kom Lainé competition, open to children from both communities.
11:17A meal is prepared together for everyone.
11:20The floor markings are being painted.
11:26It is one of the first occasions on which the Boros and the Santals have come together at a joint
11:32event.
11:42The audience cheers for every child on the ground.
11:46Kom Lainé gave them something the years of tension could not.
11:50A common ground.
11:53It was not a government program, not a formal peace process.
11:58It was a traditional fighting sport that made this change.
12:01An individual who believed in the power of sports and the kids who shared his vision.
12:10Through this experience, I have learned that through sports, both the tribes have a common ground.
12:16And they are trying to help each other through Kom Lainé.
12:18Even though we can't directly stop the violence, at least we have a way towards reconciliation.
12:25Kom Lainé!
12:27Kom Lainé!
12:29Kom Lainé!
12:30Kom Lainé!
12:30Kom Lainé!
12:31Kom Lainé!
Comments