With the recovery of 14 more bodies in Chirang District
and
a woman killed
in a relief camp
in Duramari village
near Kokrajhar,
the death toll
in the ongoing
clashes has increased
to 59, reports
IBNLive.com
& Dainik
Bhaskar.
Currently,
Kokrajhar, Chirang,
Baksa Districts
in Bodoland Territorial
Autonomous District
Council (BTC)
areas and parts
of Dhubri District
are affected.
Further, about four-lakh violence-hit people are presently
taking shelters
in about 270 relief
camps.
Few houses were
set ablaze in
Chirang District
adds The Sentinel.
Miscreants set
ablaze 25 houses
at Narayanpur
under the Bijni
Police Station.
At Basugaon and
Kothaguri, the
miscreants burned
down five houses.
The curfew imposed
in Kokrajhar was
relaxed for 12
hours from 6am
on July 27. Further,
in Baksa District,
miscreants set
ablaze three houses
in Daodhara and
Hatijan villages
late July 26 nights,
reports The
Telegraph.
The houses belonged
to Ratiram Kuzur,
Gopal Goyary and
Sukendra Brahma.
Baksa administration
said that the
incidents were
not related to
the violence in
the neighbouring
Districts. 11
people are still
reported missing
since the start
of the violence.
Meanwhile,
State Chief Minister
Tarun Gogoi said
that tussle over
land between Bodos
and non-Bodos
is the main reason
behind the clashes,
reports Times
of India.
Gogoi further
said Muslims in
Bodoland are Indian
citizens and not
Bangladeshis.
Gogoi further
assured that the
non-tribal people
in the Bodoland
Territorial Autonomous
District (BTAD)
tribal belt who
have been displaced
and are staying
in relief camps
will not lose
the land they
have left behind.
The Telegraph
adds that CM Tarun
Gogoi described
the turmoil in
the Bodo belt
to the feeling
of deprivation
among all sections
and prescribed
economic development
as the only cure.
The chief minister
blamed a “third”
force for spreading
rumours, which
resulted in more
people flocking
to relief camps
than in the previous
riots that had
seen more devastation
and deaths. He
pointed out that
113, 198, 186,
98, 106 and 64
persons were killed
in the riots of
1994, 1996, 1998,
2004, 2005 and
2008 respectively.
In
addition, Prime
Minister Manmohan
Singh and UPA
chairperson Sonia
Gandhi will visit
the State on July
28 (today) to
take stock of
the situation.
Separately,
post the Bodo-Muslim
clashes militant
groups in the
Bodoland Territorial
Areas District
(BTAD) area may
draw a fresh justification
for existence.
The
clashes started
when founder president
of All Bodoland
Minority Students’
Union (ABMSU)
, Mohibul Islam
and former leader
of All Assam Minority
Students’ Union
(AAMSU), Abdul
Siddique Sheikh
were seriously
injured in the
attack on July
19. In a retaliatory
attack, a mob
of people at Joypur
under Kokrajhar
Police Station
lynched to death
four former militants
of disbanded Bodoland
Liberation Tiger
(BLT) - Pradip
Bodo (32), Jonson
Bodo (36), Nip
Goyari (25) and
Jamin Goyari (24)
in the night of
July 20. Initially,
Kokrajhar and
then Chirang District
were affected.
Later, violence
also spread to
Dhubri and Baksa
Districts. |
