By TCN News,
New Delhi: The Central Secretariat of Popular Front of India has demanded the Central and State governments to fulfil their constitutional responsibility to facilitate early return of the victims of Assam communal riots to their homes. According to official report, as many as 3.78 lakh people (2.66 lakh Muslims and 1.11 lakh Bodos) have become homeless in one week of violence and are now living in relief camps in neighbouring districts. The actual situation is far worse.
“Any kind of ill-conceived policies that merely aims short-lived and inadequate rehabilitation activities for the victims and keeping the displaced families in the relief camps for long will not ultimately solve this humanitarian crisis; rather it would prove that the authorities and the civil society have succumbed to the agenda of Bodo militancy,” said PFI in a statement.
“It may also be noted that thousands of Muslim families which were ousted from their dwellings in previous riots are living on roadsides and river banks for many years. Therefore immediate efforts should be made to enable all the displaced victims to come back to their homes. All the villages which were evacuated due to the plight of victims and now under the control of criminal gangs must be freed and given back to the original owners. It is the primary duty of any civilized government to engage its security forces to end the refugee status of its own citizen groups,” the group said.
Media reports suggest that the violence against the Muslims in the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) region was pre-planned and well executed by Bodos. The State government and police machinery has shown a dangerous failure in recognizing this threat the Muslim villagers has for long been facing from the Bodo militants. Statements before and during the massive riots from leading Bodo leaders strengthen this argument. Bodoland Territorial Council Deputy Chairman Kampa Borgoyri, for example, has openly stated that Muslims who are displaced from their home should not be allowed to return home. “They (Muslims who have fled) should be settled there itself. If they return, it will lead to lots of problems,” he reportedly said. For Pramod Boro, president of the All-Bodo Students Union, it was “essential that the Dhubri-Kokrajhar and Chirang-Gossaigaon borders leading to the BTAD be sealed so that miscreants from other areas could not enter these four districts”.
“These real perpetuators of violence, along with similar elements in the administration and police, should be brought before the law. Also the comments that politicians like L K Advani make on the Assam Muslims as ‘infiltrators’, ‘Bangladeshi immigrants‘ or ‘outside settlers‘ will not only prove to be obstacle in solving the problem, but may also further instigate tensions,” demanded PFI.
It also demanded sacking of Tarun Gogoi government as he utterly failed in protecting minorities. The Central Secretariat of Popular Front has demanded the Centre to dismiss Tarun Gogoi ministry and impose the Presidential rule in the best interest of the people of Assam.
PFI also expressed concern on communal clashes in UP and killings of Rohingya Muslims in
Myanmar.
“There was reprehensible failure of the police in executing their duties during the recent unfortunate developments in Raebareli and Faizabad as they are reported to have acted on anti-Muslim prejudices. The meeting urged the State government that effective efforts should be made to completely de-communalise and decriminalize the police force.”
PFI demanded India, international community, especially the UNO, Amnesty International, International Human Rights NGOs, and countries of the West to play their role in the prevention of Muslims’ genocide and protect the rights of the Muslim minority in Myanmar.
Meanwhile, PFI has decided to launch a nation-wide campaign for the release of the innocent Muslim youths. They are repeatedly denied bail in the name of UAPA provisions even after no concrete evidence could be produced to justify their detention, said PFI. As part of the campaign, various mass awareness and protest programmes will be held in different states with the slogan – “Bail is the Rule; Release innocents from Jail.”