NEW DELHI, India, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Tribal people armed with guns and bows and arrows raided a village in India's troubled northeast Assam state, killing three Muslim villagers in the latest clashes with Bangladeshi settlers.

At least 36 people had lost their lives and thousands left homeless in violence that started over the weekend between indigenous Bodo tribes and Bangladeshi settlers. At least 12 people were killed by police firing.

Here are some basic facts about the conflict.

WHO IS INVOLVED?

The ethnic Bodo tribespeople in northeastern Assam are clashing with the state's Muslim population, many of which are immigrants from Bangladesh. The All Assam Students Union has been spearheading a campaign to stop illegal immigrants from getting jobs, and is putting pressure on the government to expel them.

WHY ARE THEY CLASHING?

The Bodos feel they are being marginalised in their homeland by the influx of Muslims to Assam, who comprise an estimated 40 percent of the state's population and form a majority in some districts. The Bodos feel neglected by the central government and accuse the non-tribal majority of Assam of exploiting them and letting the flow of illegal immigrants continue.

IS THIS A NEW CONFLICT?

No. There have been recurrent bouts of violence between Assamese tribespeople and Muslims for years.

In 1983, at least 2,000 people, mainly Bangladeshi immigrants, were killed in clashes in central Assam. In response, the Indian government granted citizenship in 1985 to the millions of settlers from former East Pakistan who arrived before 1971.

But hundreds of thousands of others, who came after 1971, remained illegal.

WHO IS TO BLAME?

The Bodos and the Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blame the Congress-led government in Assam for not doing enough to stop the flow of illegal immigrants, and for not giving the Bodos adequate protection.

Local media reported that the BJP called the clashes a "conspiracy", saying that Muslims had raised Pakistani and Bangladeshi flags in Assam.

State officials in Assam have blamed the separatist National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) for the clashes, accusing it of ethnic cleansing of Muslims.

The NDFB waged a militant campaign for a separate state for two decades until it signed a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2005, and denies any involvement in the latest clashes. Muslim groups have condemned the violence. (Compiled by Matthias Williams; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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