By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: Curfew was clamped following the death of three protestors in police firing in Assam’s Golaghat district on Wednesday. The unruly protestors ransacked the police vehicles and others forcing the police to open fire. The Army is flag marching the area.
The Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has ordered a judicial inquiry on the police firing. Gogoi also sought more security forces from the centre.
The protestors were on the street against the state government’s failure to provide safety and security to the people residing in the border areas with Nagaland as miscreants from Nagaland had killed at least 13 people earlier this week.
The protestors also slammed the police and the administration for atrocities meted out at the villagers on Tuesday. On Tuesday, one protestor was killed while many others sustained injuries at a place called Rangajan in Golaghat district.
“Assam police could not safeguard us when Naga miscreants launched attack on us. The miscreants burnt down houses of Assamese people but the police and administration did not turn up for our rescue. Now when we are protesting for us safety, they have killed our people,” said an angry protestor.
Mobs also blocked the highway at Borsapori, Borjuri and Kuruwabahi early Wednesday morning with burning tyres and tree branches.
Several policemen also received injuries after the protestors pelted stones and hit them with bamboo sticks.
The current protests were fallout of the killing of 13 persons on 12 August at Uriamghat in the district in firing by alleged miscreants from neighbouring Nagaland. Over 200 houses were torched rendering 10,000 people homeless.
On Wednesday, the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called up Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to take stock of the latest law and order situation in the trouble-torn Assam-Nagaland border.
Chief Minister Gogoi apprised the Union Home Minister about the prevailing law and order situation and the steps taken by the state government to contain the situation.
Gogoi sought additional companies of paramilitary forces to restore peace and tranquillity in the affected areas. The Chief Minister also assured the Home Minister that the Government would extend all possible help and assistance to restore peace along the inter-State border.
Gogoi said the priority should be to restore peace and to send back the displaced people to their homes. Gogoi said that he has been closely monitoring the situation and initiating steps to bring back normalcy in the disturbed areas.
Rajnath Singh assured the Chief Minister that the Central Government would do the needful to restore peace in the trouble-torn areas along the border.
Chief Minister said that the government would institute a judicial inquiry by a retired judge of the High Court into the incident of police firing in Golaghat district.
In a statement, Gogoi said that the government has decided to go in for a judicial inquiry by a retired judge of the High Court into the firing incident in Golaghat district to arrive at the bottom of the truth.
“We would leave no stone unturned to find out the truth behind the firing incident,” Gogoi said.
The Chief Minister also appealed to individuals, organisations, political leaders and the media to exercise restraint and to join in the Government’s efforts to restore normalcy in the violence affected areas.
“I appeal to everyone to cooperate with the Government in bringing back peace to the affected areas. It only through dialogue and understanding, we can resolve our problems amicably,” he added.
Several organizations and political parties have condemned the state and central government for failing to control the border problem. Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the prime regional party of the state has called for a 12 hour Assam bandh on Thursday.
“We did not want to adopt protesting ways like bandh but we had no option left. The state and the central government have not done enough for the solution. People are getting killed by the miscreants and police as well. We need a solution at the earliest,” said AGP president (in charge) Atul Bora in Guwahati on Wednesday.
BTAD Citizen Rights Forum has strongly condemned the police atrocities and the state government’s failure to solve the border dispute. The forum’s president Zamser Ali said that they will also support the bandh on Thursday.
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), a peasants’ body of the state and All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) too have condemned the government and sought an early solution.
Since 1979, the Assam-Nagaland border is divided into six sectors – A, B, C, D, E and F – falling under Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat and Karbi Anglong districts. The police of both the states cannot be present there but normal day-to-day security is given by a ‘neutral force’. This force is directly under the ministry of home affairs. In the initial years, Assam Rifles personnel were deployed.