AGP raps Gogoi for violence

Five days after clashes broke out between Muslim settlers and indigenous communities including Bodo tribals in two Assam districts...

Five days after clashes broke out between Muslim settlers and indigenous communities including Bodo tribals in two Assam districts, Opposition parties, student bodies and others have all put the entire blame for the incidents on the Congress-BPF coalition Government headed by Tarun Gogoi.

“Over 1.5 lakh people have been displaced, at least 50 persons have been killed, hundreds of houses in scores of villages have been reduced to ashes. And the CM is still sitting in the state capital though Darrang and Udalguri are only about two hours away from Guwahati,” said Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) president Chandra Mohan Patowari, who is also Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.

Patowari also said the state Government has failed to provide relief to the displaced people lodged in at least 75 camps in the two districts. “I visited eight camps on Monday and found some rice and dal supplied by the authorities in one camp. In the rest, people are fending for themselves with the help of voluntary groups like the students union and the Lions Club,” Patowari said here on Tuesday. “The Government was aware that Udalguri was tense since August 14. But it chose to remain complacent.”

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Gogoi, however, denied the charges. “The Udalguri SP has been suspended. The DC has been replaced. Sufficient security forces are deployed,” Gogoi said. The CM has also promised to institute a judicial probe into the violence.

“I have requested the Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly to send an all-party delegation to the affected areas to instill confidence among the people. The state Government has taken all measures to provide relief materials to the affected people living in relief camps. Even additional officers have been posted there to look after relief operations,” Gogoi said in a statement on Tuesday.

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) too have held the Chief Minister responsible for the violence. “The Gogoi Government appears more interested in protecting the interests of the immigrant population than safeguarding the indigenous ethnic communities,” alleged AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharyya.

“Our apprehensions that the indigenous people of the state have been outnumbered by the immigrants of Bangladeshi origin have been proved true in Udalguri and Darrang. Just look at the people who have been attacked and rendered homeless. Over 90 per cent of them are indigenous people including Bodo tribals and Assamese,” said All Bodo Students’ Union president Rwngwra Narzary.

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The state Government, however, held the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), an armed underground group currently observing a ceasefire with the Government, responsible. “There are reports that the NDFB is behind it. Two militants belonging to the NDFB have been already arrested,” the CM said.