Bodo vs Bangladeshi

[G.Subramaniam]

daily pioneer - Bangladeshi bandh in Assam, - seems to be well controlled



Tension gripped at least five districts of Assam including the Kokrajhar districts of Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD) following fresh incidents of violence on late Monday night. The 12-hour dawn to dusk Assam bandh called by some minority organisations on Tuesday also turned violent in many places across the State.



The All Assam Muslim Students’ Union (AAMSU) and several other non-Bodo organisations called the Assam bandh to press the Government to dissolve the Bodoland Territorial Council and arrest its Chief Executive Member (CEM) Hagrama Mohilary.



At least one person died and 60 bandh supporters were injured across the State after police either resorted to lathi-charge or firing blanks, sources said adding that some journalists and policemen were also injured as bandh supporters pelted stones at policemen and journalists.



Talking to The Pioneer, IGP (Law & Order) of Assam Police LR Bishnoi said that the situation was under control. “Police had to resort to lathi-charge at 17 places in various districts while it resorted to firing of rubber bullets and tear gas shells at eight places. At eight more places we had to resort to blank firing to control the situation,” he said.



He added that nearly eight policemen were also injured along with over a hundred civilians during the bandh hours. “Curfew has been clamped in parts of Barpeta, Nagaon and Sonitpur districts,” he said.



State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had been camping at the BTAD, visited the Barpeta district, where one person died and about 30 people were injured after clashes broke out between two groups of people over the bandh on Tuesday.



Earlier on late Monday night, unidentified miscreants attacked some villages under Fakiragram and Salekati police stations in Kokrajhar district killing one person and injuring six others. Police said that the miscreants had also torched some villages.



AssamChief Minister Tarun Gogoi directed the State machinery to deal with the situation firmly. He appealed for calm and asked people to help police. He also urged all party leaders not to make any provocative statements that could aggravate the situation.



“Additional security forces and columns of Army had been rushed to the area and they have already started the operation. No one, found to be involved in the clashes, will be spared,” Gogoi said while interacting with the mediapersons in his office on Tuesday.



Apart from the three districts of Assam, curfew was also imposed in parts of Sonitpur, Nagaon and Barpeta districts on Tuesday following sporadic incidents of violence during the bandh.



While police and security forces had to resort to lathi-charge at Tezpur in Sonitpur districts, Barpeta road in Barpeta district and in Sivsagar districts, forces resorted to blank firing at some parts of Dhubri and Bongaigaon districts to contain the bandh supporters.



At Jogighopa in Bongaigaon district, police resorted to blank firing to disperse bandh supporters, who blocked NH-31 in the district. The police fired rubber bullets and about nine bandh supporters were injured. Similarly, in Dhubri too, security forces had to resort to blank firing to disperse some of the bandh supporters, who burnt the effigy of BTC chief Hagrama Mohilary on NH 31 at Gauripur.



Another incident took place at New Hatipota near Bilasipara where the bandh supporters blocked NH 31 and ransacked the office of Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF).



In Sonitpur, bandh activists attacked the car of the Tezpur circle officer, Sarangapani Sarma, and officer-in-charge of Bhojkhowa police station at Bhojkhowa and damaged it.



In Tezpur and Barpeta districts, the bandh supporters also attacked mediapersons, who had gone there to cover the incident. In Nagaon district, clashes broke out between two groups after some bandh supporters tried to close some shops at Ambagan area by force. Several people were injured during the brawl. Police said that some bandh supporters also tried to set some of the shops on fire.



Meanwhile, Gogoi asked all his Ministers and parliamentary secretaries to monitor the situation closely.