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North East: Assam : Violence at tribals’ rally, many feared killed

	November 26, 2007

Since Independence North East region of the country has always been a hot spot of extremist violence, either by seces¬sionist outfits like ULFA, NSCN or other regional militant outfits which often resort to violence to achieve their goals.



The capital city of Guwahati in Assam, which often bears the brunt of violence, witnessed yet another bout on Nov. 24 when a protest rally organised by the All Assam Adivasi Students’ Union (AAASU) and All Adavasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) turned into a battle field between the locals and rallyists, resulting in the death of over a dozen people.



They were demanding Scheduled Tribe status for Santhals (most of whom work as tea plantation labourers).



The official toll is “one” dead and 10 “critically injured”. But eyewitnesses put the death toll as high as 20. An indefinite curfew has been imposed on the district and the government has ordered an “administrative” probe into the violence.



The rally turned violent as the participants had gone on the rampage, prompting the residents of Beltola Last Gate and Survey areas of the city to take them on.



According to eyewitnesses, the trouble erupted between 12 noon and 12.15 p.m. when rallyists started pelting cars and vehi¬cles with stones and ransacking shops, offices and business establishments in the area, triggering a barbaric retaliation from locals, which resulted in a free for all. Such was the brutality and barbarity of the clashes that even those who lay on the streets were not spared. Most of the injured are reported to be the leaders of AAASU.



The eyewitnesses said that the number of policemen deployed to preempt violence was not adequate, and that those were mute spectators of the gruesome tragedy that was being enacted on the streets of the city. So much so, that the locals were seen hit¬ting and kicking those who lay on the ground with whatever ob¬jects they had with them in full view of policemen stationed there. When things went out of control, Central Reserve Police Force jawans were called in who resorted to blank firing.



For quite some time, streets could be seen littered with bodies and the injured persons being rushed to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital. People soaked in blood were writhing in pain and the stretch from Dispur Last Gate to Beltola Bazaar was strewn with shards of smashed windshields of vehicles, damaged items of vandalised stores and pools of blood. All the shops had downed their shutters and only a few shopkeepers were seen trying to repair the damage caused by the rampaging tribals.



“Guwahati has witnessed several horrifying incidents earli¬er, but this was the worst ever. I have never seen people being beaten up so mercilessly,” said Jayanta Kalita, an elderly resi¬dent of the area.



The Santhal Adivasis are one of the earliest inhabitants of modern Assam who were brought to the State by British planters to work in the tea gardens in the middle of the 19th century. They have, for years, been demanding ST status which they enjoy in the rest of the country.



Assam DGP RN Mathur told reporters that a detailed investi¬gation had been ordered into the incident. The Kamrup district administration clamped curfew on the Basistha-Dispur Last Gate stretch of the road and its adjoining areas.





Gogoi talks peace over tea



As Guwahati erupted in barbarity, state chief minister run Tarun Gogoi was addressing the concluding session of India Inter¬national Tea Convention (IITC) 2007, close to the site of the gruesome tragedy.



Unaware of the brutality on the city streets, the Chief Minister was harping on the state of “peace in Assam” in company of his Congress colleague and Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath.



Gogoi, who is also in charge of the Home Department, later reviewed the situation in a meeting with senior officials of the Home Department and Police and instructed strict action against those involved.





Loopholes in security



Reports say Police and the civil administration were caught napping as what was supposed to be a peaceful rally turned into a bloody battle between processionists and the public just a few hundred metres from the high-security capital complex.



The All Adivasi Students Association of Assam (AASAA), which organised the Dispur Chalo march, the local residents and those caught in the crossfire held the security arrangement responsible for things going out of turn. AASAA vice-president Raphael Kujur blamed a “third force” for the violence.



A city-based doctor said: “The security personnel present at the scene appeared to be totally disoriented. I had managed to save a rallyist from the agitated locals but when I sought the help of a CRPF jawan he asked me to take care of him. Later, the man was taken away in a police vehicle.” The doctor’s wife, too, had a miraculous escape when vandals damaged her vehicle.



The AGP (Pragatisheel) and Kamakhya Tasha, a BJP leader from the tea community, blamed the government for the incident.



Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited the GMCH and held a meeting with the hospital authorities to draw up an effective strategy to treat the injured. He also instructed the heads of medicine and surgery departments to ensure round-the-clock vigil.



Principal-cum-Chief Superintendent of GMCH, M.M. Deka, said, “In view of the heavy rush, we have decided to shift some of the victims with minor injuries to Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital. With the junior doctors on strike, senior staff have been engaged on emergency duty.”



Voluntary organization, Save Guwahati Build Guwahati, has also blamed the Government for the incident. President of the organization, Dhiren Baruah, who witnessed the clashes, said that immediate action should be taken against the Director General of Police, Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police for their failure to control the mob. He also appealed to all sec¬tions of people to maintain peace and not to take the law into their own hands.



Lamenting over the carnage, Raphael Kujur, vice president, AASAA, termed the incident as ‘unfortunate’. Expressing regret for the confrontation, he however did not refrain from blaming the state government, asserting that state government was partly responsible for the incident, as it had failed to enlist the community in the scheduled list.