Front Page   

Sporadic violence mars Assam bandh

— PHOTO: PTI

Registering protest: A deserted street in Tinsukia during the 36-hour Assam bandh called by the Adivasi students’ union on Monday.

Guwahati: One person was killed and several vehicles were torched in different parts of the State, as sporadic violence marred the All-Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam -sponsored 36-hour State wide bandh, which began on Monday.

One person was killed, 260 were injured and shops and vehicles destroyed during Saturday’s clashes involving AASAA protesters and locals .

The bandh call was issued by the AASAA and the All-Assam Tea Tribe Students Association (AATSA) to protest against the brutalities inflicted on Adivasi protesters and to press for ST status.

The bandh affected life in most of the districts, its impact being total in areas dominated by Adivasis and the tea tribes. There was no impact in the city. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi announced the constitution of a Cabinet committee to study the creation of a development council for the Adivasis and two other communities — Moran and Matak. Mr. Gogoi said allocations for tea tribe communities, minorities, the Scheduled Tribes and castes and other backward communities would be increased.

The Asom Gana Parishad and the former Jharkhand Chief Minister, Babulal Marandi, alleged that Saturday’s violence was a “planned conspiracy of the ruling Congress.

In an unrelated incident, a tea garden sardar belonging to the tea tribe community was killed when troops of the Army’s 316 Field Regiment fired on him and two others riding a motorcycle at Disangpani-Banamali Tiniali in Upper Assam Sivasagar district in the early hours of Monday.

Principal Secretary Home Subhas Das told The Hindu that the Army version was the trio ignored a signal to stop.

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

Stories in this Section

Patil: CMs meet on security soon
Sporadic violence mars Assam bandh
U.P. sets up anti-terror squad
President’s rule approved
India wraps up first Test without much ado
It is for Centre to decide on Taslima’s place of stay: Yechury
Plea for more judges still pending
Musharraf to be sworn in on Thursday
U.P. blasts trail leads to Pakistan
Asian agents root for MI5
To protect the glorious monarch
Finding a “parallel world”
Concern over monasteries
‘Kidnap’ ends in marriage
Minor changes in power tariff rates
GNLF ‘relaxes’ bandh
Delhi jolted out of sleep by quake
Mild tremor in Delhi
e-mail threat
Nod for merger
Woman found murdered at her house in Seshadripuram

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu