The Hindu : Army deployed as violence continues in Assam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 20, 2003

Front Page

Front Page

Army deployed as violence continues in Assam

GUWAHATI NOV.19. The Union Minister for northeast, C.P. Thakur, told newspersons in Patna that the Centre might have to take the direct help of the Army if the situation continued to deteriorate in Assam. The Centre was monitoring the situation and had directed the Assam Government to take all measures to check violence and provide protection to Biharis residing there.

There was a pitched battle this morning between a 500-strong Bihari mob and a 1000-strong Assamese mob in the Upper Assam town of Tinsukia. As the situation threatened to go out of hand, police fired in the air to disperse them. One person was killed in the police shooting.

The Army is already out in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts but has not been able to bring the situation under control.

The Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, told newspersons that the ULFA was instigating attacks on innocent Bihari people in the State to exploit the sentiment of the people, who were anguished at the attack on Assamese train passengers in Bihar between November 9 and 12.

The ULFA had instigated the mob attack on a Bihari settlement at Kheroni village at Moran in Dibrugarh district on Tuesday night, resulting in the deaths of six persons, including minors, he said.

The Governors of Assam and Bihar, Gen. Ajai Singh and M. Rama Jois, in a joint statement here, called for calm, appealing to the "common nationality of the people" and the obligation not to damage national unity and brotherhood.

"We are greatly pained and perturbed over the violence unleashed in both the States. We are forgetting that we are all children of Bharat Mata and there is only one citizenship.

"We are all Indians first and Indians last. It is time we remind ourselves what the great visionary and builder of modern India said: `Who dies if India lives, who lives if India dies','' they said, appealing to the youth for unity. — UNI

Laloo sends SOS

Our Patna Staff Correspondent reports:

The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and former Bihar Chief Minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav, has sent an SOS to the Central Government seeking steps to check the continuing violence against Biharis in Assam.

The Bihar Chief Minister, Rabri Devi, in a letter to Mr. Gogoi, urgted him to put an end to the "mindless killing of Biharis". A copy of the letter has been sent to the Union Home Ministry.

She said her Government had taken steps to stop attacks in Bihar on trains carrying passengers from the northeast.

It had cracked the whip on those responsible for the violence in Munger, Katihar and Bhagalpur districts and handed over the cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

She hoped that the Assam Government too would take firm action and restore normality.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News Update

Stories in this Section

Army deployed as violence continues in Assam

Blasts rock Mizoram on eve of elections

EC orders transfer of Bilaspur Collector

Operation on to flush out militants from BSNL building

Stamp scam: plea in SC

Lakshya test-flown