Shoot-at-sight in Garo hills & Goalpara

From The Telegraph OUR BUREAU

Displaced villagers at a relief camp at Dilma in Garo hills’ Mendipathar. Telegraph picture Shillong/Kokrajhar/ Dhubri, Jan. 10: A high-level team, led by the joint secretary, home (in-charge of Northeast), Shambu Singh, met district administration in East Garo Hills this afternoon and advised shoot-at-sight orders against violators of curfew. Assam home department officials and senior police officials accompanied Singh to East Garo Hills. Earlier, the team, which visited the affected areas in Goalpara district, issued shoot-at-sight orders in Assam’s Goalpara district. East Garo Hills deputy commissioner Pravin Bakshi, who had a meeting with the team, said over phone that the Centre has agreed to provide additional companies of paramilitary forces. “We will also not spare any troublemongers or criminals who target innocent people and their properties. The shoot-at-sight order will be strictly implemented,” Bakshi said. After the meeting, Singh said that criminals and people with vested interests were fomenting trouble in the border area with an ulterior motive. The Union home ministry has called a high-level meeting in Guwahati tomorrow, to be attended by the directors-general of police and home department officials of Assam and Meghalaya in the wake of the recurring bouts of ethnic violence. There has been no end to the torching of houses along the border following the clashes between Garos and Rabhas since January 1. The death toll in the violence stands at 10. Criminals fired at an Assam police camp around 5.30 this morning at Belpara, adjacent to Resubelpara on the Assam-Meghalaya border. On Saturday night, a Rabha and a Garo were killed in the border villages under Goalpara in ethnic clashes. Several Garo villagers, who had fled the three clash-hit villages — Chitugona, Chigisim and Khasigagra — under Goalpara after their houses were torched, have taken shelter in the relief camps in East Garo Hills. There were reports of militants from the Rabha Security Force and the Rabha Viper Army carrying out attacks on several villages along the border. Yesterday, the BSF with the help of the police in East Garo Hills, arrested four Rabha Security Force militants from Balmuri village at Bajengdoba. The BSF also seized crude bombs, a 12-bore rifle, a countrymade pistol,khukris, daggers, firecrackers, bows and arrows, mobile phones and 300ml of kerosene bottle from the militants. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110111/jsp/northeast/story_13418950.jsp The militants — Kasiram Rabha, Gangadhar Rabha, Dhanonjoy Rabha and Aniraj Rabha — from Agia in Assam, were arrested while trying to enter East Garo Hills. Sporadic cases of arson in Goalpara apart, several abandoned houses belonging to Rabhas were also torched in East Garo Hills last night. There was no relaxation of the curfew in the affected areas of Resubelpara and Mendipathar in East Garo Hills. Meghalaya director-general of police S.B. Kakati told reporters this evening that he, along with the principal secretary, home, C.D. Kynjing, will meet his counterpart and other Assam home department officials in Guwahati in the presence of Shambu Singh to discuss the current situation. An action plan to end the ethnic violence on the Assam-Meghalaya border is likely to be drawn up during the meeting, scheduled for 11am. A home department official said the meeting would discuss the deployment of more paramilitary forces in vulnerable areas. “After the meeting we will also visit the affected areas under Mendipathar in East Garo Hills,” Kakati said. While as many as 1,500 houses were torched in Meghalaya so far, the number of refugees swelled to 8,018. In Assam, the number of people who are taking shelter in various relief camps is more than 30,000. Seven indigenous organisations from Assam, along with the AASU, today sought the intervention of the Centre and deployment of army on both sides of the border to quell the ongoing clashes between the two communities. The seven organisations — the All Assam Tribal Sangha, All Assam Tribal Youth League, All Mising Students’ Union, Karbi Students’ Union, Tiwa Yuva Chatra Parishad and All Assam Gorkha Students’ Union — alleged that both the states have failed to take adequate steps to bring the situation under control. The Bodoland Territorial Council Assembly has decided to send a 13-member team, led by BTC Speaker Paniram Brahma, to take stock of the situation in the area. It will also donate 60,000 blankets to the affected people. The AASU also appealed to the people of Assam to extend a helping hand to the nearly 30,000 people rendered homeless. The AASU head-office at Uzan Bazar in Guwahati will be the contact point for those willing to donate through the union. Expressing serious concern over the clashes between the Rabhas and the Garos, BTC chief Hagrama Mohilary said it was very unfortunate that two communities were fighting, bringing a lot of suffering to innocent people. Various Bodo leaders and organisations, including the Bodo Sahitya Sabha and Absu, have also expressed concern and appealed for peace. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi today warned of tough action against those responsible for perpetrating ethnic clashes in Goalpara district. He told newspersons in Guwahati that he was in constant touch with his Meghalaya counterpart Mukul Sangma to effectively tackle the situation. He said both the governments would set up a common control room along the border to prevent any flare-up between the two communities in future. Gogoi said there are 37 relief camps where 34,412 inmates are taking shelter. Among the inmates, 18,085 have come from Meghalaya. The chief minister said he has taken up the issue with Union home minister P. Chidambaram and the latter had assured him of full help from the Centre for the purpose of security in the affected areas. He said the government had no proof about the reports that the ANVC, a militant outfit in Meghalaya, some armed Rabha youths and a section of Christian missionaries were behind the clashes. Last night, police resorted to firing to stop the arsonists, who were divided in four to five sub-groups, each comprising 10-15 arsonists, from setting more houses on fire, a source in Mornai police station said. Nearly 3,000 people of mixed communities have fled Milanpara, Dhuptala and Rakhashani villages under Mornai police station of Goalpara district and taken shelter in schools and the Goraimari camp. The officer-in-charge of Mornai police station, Gajnabi Ahmed, said the arsonists, who were armed with bows and arrows, attacked the police, who retaliated. However, the goons escaped into the forests taking advantage of the darkness. Altogether 12 houses were gutted, but people emptied all the three villages and took shelter in camps and elsewhere, Ahmed said. Goalpara deputy commissioner Prafulla Kumar Goswami, superintendent of police Luish Aind and DIG (western) Pratul Phukan today held a meeting with senior officials of East Garo Hills to review the law and order and resolved to follow joint strategies to counter the unrest.