This is an archive article published on May 26, 2020

Opinion May 26, 1980, Forty Years Ago: Assam unrest

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on May 26, 1980.

By: Editorial

May 26, 2020 06:19 AM IST First published on: May 26, 2020 at 12:16 AM IST

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on May 26, 1980.

The Assam government called the army out in the Barpeta sub-division of Lower Assam, in an obvious show of force, in view of the observance tomorrow of “demand day” by the Congress (I)-backed All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU) and “Barpeta bandh” called by the Barpeta District Students Union. According to Assam chief secretary, troops have been called out and para-military reinforcements rushed to Barpeta. The AAGSP and the AASU have, in the meantime, accused the government of inciting communal violence in the state by encouraging the minorities to launch a counter-agitation.

South Korea riots

The South Korean foreign ministry urged all foreign embassies in Seoul to get their nationals out of Kwangju area “as soon as possible”, a US embassy source said. The recommendation was issued as anti-government demonstrators and South Korean military forces continued their tense vigil behind barricades in the riot-battered provincial capital. More than 100 persons were killed in anti-government rioting there last week following the imposition of martial law and censorship throughout the country and arrests of several leading politicians.

Herat attacks

Radio Kabul confirmed urban guerilla attacks in the strategic Afghan city of Herat, about 110 km from the Iran border. The Pashto-language broadcast followed numerous reports that rebels controlled key sectors of the western provincial capital, including the water supply, and of heavy clashes between the insurgents and Afghans and Soviet forces holding other parts of the city. Kabul Radio claimed that anti-government forces raided the Herat provincial police headquarters, killing an undisclosed number of soldiers. Total rebel losses were not disclosed but it said one terrorist was shot.

# Forty Years Ago