Assam clashes | Army moves to quell violence
Assam clashes | Army moves to quell violence
Guwahati: Sporadic violence continued in Assam on Wednesday, forcing the police to open fire at Ulubari in Chirang district, even as the army moved into the disturbed areas of the state to quell clashes between native Bodo tribals and immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.
Even as clashes abated, the police had to fire on Wednesday evening to drive away a mob setting homes ablaze at Ulubari, said Sanjiv Krishna, Chirang district superintendent of police. Though the administration claimed only a handful of houses were torched on Wednesday, locals claimed several villages were vandalised.
The administration claimed there was no new casualty on Wednesday though it admitted to have recovered at least 10 bodies. These bodies are believed to be of those among the 32 killed or reported missing already, according Krishna.
Alongside, some 25 people were detained on Wednesday for abetting communal clashes, which started at the weekend.
Thirteen columns of the army patrolled Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Chirang and Bongaigaon districts of Assam. Seven areas, mostly in the remote interiors of these four districts, have been identified as “hypersensitive", according to Lt. Col. S.S. Poghat, a spokesperson for the army. Night curfew has been imposed on all four districts.
Communal tension in Assam escalated because of “unchecked immigration" from neighbouring Bangladesh, said Vijay Goel, general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, asking the Union government to immediately seal the international border.
Goel is currently in Assam as the leader of an all-party delegation visiting relief camps housing people who have fled their homes. At least 170,000 people from 4,000 villages have currently taken shelter in such camps and other protected places such as railway stations, the administration said.
Trains were cancelled and thousands are stranded at the Guwahati railway station.
Years of conflict over control of land between the native Bodos and the immigrants led to the skirmishes, Goel said, alleging that the state government allowed the situation to go out of hand by not dealing with the immigrants firmly.
“Because the Bodos are economically weaker they are unable to match the immigrants in the fight for control of land," he added.
The state government did little to protect the interests of the Bodo people, said a leader of the local Bodoland Peoples Front, an ally of the Congress in Assam.
“Who cares for the small coalition partner?" asked this person, speaking on condition of anonymity.
romita.d@livemint.com
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