The Hindu : Assam bandh peaceful

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 21, 2003

National

National

Assam bandh peaceful

By Our Special Correspondent

GUWAHATI Dec. 20. The first day of the 48-hour Assam bandh called by the United Liberation Front of Asom, the NDFB and the KLO from 5 a.m. today passed off peacefully.

Banks, schools and colleges remained closed in Guwahati, while government offices functioned normally. Bus, train and air services were not affected.

Shop-owners who opened the shops in the morning downed the shutters in the afternoon.

The bandh had no impact on the 700-odd tea gardens, though normal life was affected in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts in upper Assam.

In the Karbi Anglong and North Cachar hill districts and in the Barak valley, life was normal. In lower Assam, except the Nalbari district that is an ULFA stronghold, the bandh had a partial impact.

The militants had given the bandh call to protest against the crackdown on their camps in Bhutan and to demand that the bodies of the killed militants be returned to their relatives within 24 hours, failing which they threatened to continue the bandh indefinitely.

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