Kokrajhar:
One person has died and five others have been injured in fresh violence in the Kokrajhar district of Assam. The area has been the epicentre of an ethnic flare-up that has ravaged the state in the last one month, claiming over 90 lives and leaving lakhs displaced.
Here are the latest developments in the story:
The All Assam Minority Students' Union has called for a 12-hour bandh in the state today to protest against the ongoing violence in lower Assam. Sporadic incidents of violence have been reported in Goalpara, Nagaon and Tezpur districts during the bandh with a curfew having been imposed in the latter. Three houses have been set on fire in the Ambagan village in Nagaon district. The police had to resort to firing in the air in Nagaon district.
Last night, four incidents of firing were reported from the Kokrajhar district in lower Assam. While one was killed in Bhumki in the Salakati town, four others were injured in the Pakritol village after unidentified gunmen opened fire. Another person was also reported to have sustained injuries in Gossaigaon.
The fresh round of violence comes just two days after five people were killed in Chirang district when they had reportedly stepped out of a relief camp in Amguri to buy groceries. 23 companies of paramilitary forces and the police along with three columns of the Army have been stationed in Chirang.
With the situation still tense in the state, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has promised strict action against the culprits, adding that the clashes have "defamed Assam internationally." "Whosoever is involved in the violence will be punished...All guilty will be punished," Mr Shinde said.
The Centre has also asked the local administration to form a coordination committee to restore peace in the violence-hit areas as early as possible. "The need of the hour is to restore peace in the region and urge people in relief camps to go back to their homes; this is what I have told them," Mr Shinde said.
The state was paralysed yesterday following a dawn-to-dusk bandh called by the Bajrang Dal. Supporters burnt tyres and pelted stones at vehicles in different parts of the state following which the police took nearly 500 of them into preventive custody say sources. Schools, colleges and educational institutions, commercial and business establishments, financial institutions remained closed with attendance in government offices thin.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has already ordered authorities to crackdown on trouble-makers. "The administration will fire at anyone who resorts to arson and violence," Mr Gogoi said on Sunday. He has also sent six of his ministers to tour the tense lower Assam region and ensure that the situation is brought under control.
Over 90 people have died in over a month in ethnic violence in parts of lower Assam between the indigenous Bodo tribals and Muslim settlers. 2.39 lakh people are still displaced. In Chirang, 40,000 people are living in 22 relief camps.
The riots in the state even spilled over to Mumbai, where a protest at Azad Maidan spun out of control on August 11. Two people were killed and 55 others, including 45 policemen, were injured in the riot. Several women cops were allegedly molested.
The strife in Assam also led to a fear psychosis among people from the North-East living in cities like Bangalore and Pune. Thousands of them left the cities after hate messages and morphed images were circulated through mobile phones and social networking sites showing the targeting of people from the region. The Karnataka government has been urging the north-eastern community to come back, assuring them that the city is 'safe'.
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