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News of Jan
6, 2007
More Violence in Assam
Massacre Toll Rises to 55
By Syed Zarir Hussain
Tinsukia
(Assam), Jan 6 (IANS) Assam witnessed a day of bloody violence
Saturday with the death toll rising to 55 in different incidents as
separatist groups targeted Hindi-speaking people,
government employees and policemen.
A police spokesman said five policemen and two government officials
were killed when tribal militants triggered a landmine blast near
Donghat village in eastern Karbi Anglong district, 260 km from
Assam's main city of Guwahati.
"A vehicle carrying about 12 people was returning after conducting
polls of an autonomous council election when they came under
attack," a police official said.
Rebels suspected to be from the Karbi Longri Liberation Front, a
rag-tag militant group fighting for an independent Karbi tribal
homeland, fired indiscriminately at the vehicle soon after the
explosion.
Five people were injured in the attack.
In attacks spread over Friday and Saturday, gunmen suspected to
belong to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) mowed down poor
people working in brick kilns and petty traders in a gruesome
display of ethnic hatred.
It was the worst outbreak of violence in recent years in Assam and
the second most gruesome since the 2000 gunning down of at least 100
Hindi-speaking people that had sparked widespread revulsion. Both
then and now the victims were mainly from Bihar.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi feverishly contacted his Bihar
counterpart Nitish Kumar to stress the importance of preventing any
backlash in that state, through which trains to Assam pass.
Thirty-four of the victims were killed in Tinsukia district alone.
Eight were mowed down in Dibrugarh district and six in Dhemaji,
officials said, adding that paramilitary forces were being rushed to
the affected areas.
Assam also sought paramilitary forces from New Delhi, where Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh described the massacre as an "anti-people
act of cowardice".
The prime minister's remarks came as a high-level central government
team led by Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal prepared
to arrive Sunday in Assam.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil made it clear that while New Delhi was
ready to talk to ULFA, it would never tolerate the killing of
innocents.
"Most victims were Hindi-speaking people," a distraught Assam chief
minister told IANS.
The last of the incidents targeting Hindi-speaking people was
reported in the eastern district of Dhemaji where six people were
killed, taking the toll in two days of mindless violence to 48.
Authorities blamed ULFA for a string of 11 incidents.
"We have asked the security forces, including the army, to take
effective steps to curb the violence," the chief minister said.
As panic gripped the mostly Bihari population in Assam, three
ministers from Bihar prepared to visit Assam to instil confidence
among people from the state who live in large numbers in the
northeastern state.
The killings began when militants dressed in army uniforms attacked
brick kiln workers and fishermen near Ghormori Chapori, a sandbar
located in Tinsukia district, about 590 km from here.
"The militants tied the hands of the people and shot them from close
range with automatic weapons," an official said.
"The immediate provocation was the killing of five ULFA leaders by
security forces in the past one week and the arrest of two of their
frontline leaders," the official added.
Said Rajesh Tiwari, a coal trader in Tinsukia town: "We fear more
such attacks and are worried for our lives. We have lived in Assam
for decades, but we don't know whether to stay put or flee."
"The attacks were reminiscent of the one we saw in 2000," said
Hariprasad Gupta, another trader in Tinsukia, originally hailing
from Bihar.
Meanwhile, passengers of the Rajdhani Express bound for the eastern
town of Dibrugarh from New Delhi had a miraculous escape when a
powerful bomb planted underneath a bridge exploded, damaging a
coach.
The incident occurred near Diphu in eastern Assam around 12.50 am
Saturday.
"It was a lucky escape as the explosion damaged a portion of the
coach although there were no casualties. The blast damaged at least
1.5 metres of the track," railway spokesman T. Rabha said.
The track has since been repaired with trains running normally after
a 10-hour disruption.
Police said the latest violence was an attempt to create an
atmosphere of fear after an independent opinion poll by a peace
group in nine districts of the oil-rich state showed that 90 percent
of people rejected ULFA's separatist demands.
The three districts that witnessed the attacks had not been polled
but were to be included in the second phase of assessment by the
civil rights group, Assam Public Works.
The bloody attacks came a day after officials appealed to ULFA not
to disrupt next month's National Games, which the rebels have
threatened to disrupt with violence.
IANS
News of Jan
6, 2007
Assam on Alert after 19 Hindi-speaking
People Killed
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