Despite a simmering situation along the Assam-Meghalaya border, Assam health minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma has laid the foundation stone a Primary health centre at Langpih, a place in Kamrup district which is claimed by Meghalaya. The neighbouring state decided to maintain a wait and watch policy helping the area avoid a major clash.
Dr Sarma on Saturday along with his forest department counterpart Rockybul Hussain, AGP MLA Jyoti Prasad Das, youth Congress leader Rekibuddin Ahmed, Kamrup deputy Commissioner R C Jain, police superintendent Debojit Hazarika did it and not only that Dr Sarma announced a Rs 12 crore package for the development of the almost inaccessible area.
In his address, the minister said if the neighbouring state has any objection they should approach the judiciary and should not disturb others in implementing anything with its territory. A stunned Meghalaya Government has decide to maintain a wait-and-watch policey and this a major showdown was averted. Notably, the ministers’ convoy found it difficult to clear the road to Lengpih as it has some logs and uprooted trees placed to prevent the visit.
Notably, tension started running in the area as soon as the Assam Government announced a date for laying the foundation stone of a health centre in the backward area. A local organisation in Meghalaya was quick to greet health minister Dr Sarma with a 36 hour bandh and pledged to prevent him from doing it. The Donkuper Roy Government also joined the cry and sought the Centre’s intervention.
Life in BTAD areas and Dhubri is limping back to normal. There was no report of any fresh incident from Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts during the last 24 hours. But night curfew would continue. A CBI team on Friday visited Kokrajhar to gather inputs on the ethnic clashes that took 77 lives. Headed by a special director K Saleem Ali and Deputy Inspector General Satish Golcha the team gathered inputs on the main reasons behind these incidents.
They further would try to ascertain the possible angle of their investigation. The team straightly left for Joypur village where four Bodo youths were lynched spreading the violence to other places. This was followed by their visit to...
Security forces have apprehended six of ULFA militants and seized two powerful bombs during an encounter in Tinsukia district on Friday. Getting wind of the presence of an ULFA group, police launched a search operation in Borburi area since in the evening where the encounter followed. Two cadres were nabbed while another fled away. Five more cadre of ULFA were arrested following the interrogation of the duo and two powerful IEDs arrested from an abandoned cremation ground, 500 metres from the parade ground where the district administration was due to hold the I-Day parade.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is likely to reshuffle his cabinet. According to top sources, the reshuffle is expected in between August 20 and 25. Two cabinet ministers are likely to be dropped. A former minister is likely to be inducted. Congress high command is understood to have issued a letter to the chief minister ordered the ministries to be reshuffled within this month.
The reshuffle is the fall out of a rift between Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and a Cabinet minister of the state government Dr Himanta Biswa Sarmah.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde would visit Kokrajhar on Monday. This was confirmed by AICC general secretary in charge of Assam Digvijay Singh on Friday when he was addressing a press conference in Guwahati. During the visit, the duo would take stock of the situation prevailing in BTAD areas and Dhubri district.
Dhubri on Friday witnessed strident protest against BJP leader L.K. Advani’s alleged attempt to politicize the BTAD violence. Hundreds of protesters burnt Advani's effigy a day after he had said that the violence should not be seen as a communal incident.
AIUDF on Friday demanded immediate removal of Tarun Gogoi as Assam Chief Minister alleging that the minority people are not at all safe at the hands of Gogoi. A delegation of the party led by Maulana Badruddin Ajmal met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and later demanded the removal of state chief minister Tarun Gogoi.
Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, he said that the violence was only a false front to rid the area of non-Bodos. Before that the AIUDF delegation met Union home minister SK Shindhe.
There is no rift in the state cabinet on the ethnic clashes in BTAD. This was simply what AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh said on Friday. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Singh said that the report of rift in the cabinet is a media creation. Singh said that the people should come together and usher peace in the BTAD area. He urged all political groups to bury their differences and work together in this time of crisis. The AICC leader said on July 20 they were in position.
A CBI team on Friday gathered vital inputs in Kokrajhar to begin its probe into the ethnic clashes in BTAD areas. Headed by A Ali, the two member team will ascertain the possible angle of their investigation. With the police in four affected districts - Kokrajhar, Chirang, Dhubri and Baska - registering 309 cases in connection with the violence, CBI is yet to decide on the cases it would investigate.
Senior cabinet ministers and state Congress leaders on Friday resolved to mend the difference between government and the party on the BTAD clashed. This was simply what a crucial meeting of cabinet ministers and party leaders decided in presence of AICC leader Digvijay Singh.Convened at Koinadhara, the meeting was attended by chief minister Tarun Gogoi and his senior colleague along with APCC president Bhubneswar Kalita, Paban Sing Ghatowar, Bhumidhar Barman, Sarat Borkotoky and several others.
CBI is preparing to probe only 7 cases instead of 309 cases handed over by Dispur. The CBI team led by S Ali decided to register 7 cases after consultation with chief minister, DGP and chief secretary and other top officials. The 2 member team left for Kokrajhar in the morning to gather priliminary information and would be back to Delhi in the afternoon.
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