Kokrajhar : The situation in the strife-torn lower Assam districts is limping back to normal with authorities relaxing curfew in the worst-hit Kokrajhar district on Sunday.
Normalcy was returning slowly in communal violence-torn Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) and adjoining areas with no reports of violence or arson received in the past two days.
The indefinite curfew clamped in the Kokrajhar district has been relaxed for the day while night curfew between 6 PM to 6 AM will continue in the other affected districts, official sources said.
The official death toll remained at 53 and there was no report of any fresh incident of violence. Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts are the worst hit among five affected districts, the two others being Bongaigaon and Baksa in the tribals-minority immigrants clashes.
Another seven people were reported missing, while 67 others have been injured so far. Night curfew remained clamped in the disturbed areas of Kokrajhar, Chirang and Baksa districts of BTAD and Dhubri.
Daytime curfew has been relaxed in the troubled areas with normalcy returning.
The Army continued to stage flag-march, while patrolling was also being carried out by the police and para-military personnel.
More than three lakh people have been affected in the violence that went on for eight days and most of them are sheltered in relief camps.
With law and order situation improving, the district administrations are taking measures to persuade victims to return to their homes. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday visited Kokrajhar and announced a Rs 300-crore rehabilitation package and declared that a probe will be held to ascertain the cause of the clashes.
Altogether 270 relief camps have been set up in the affected areas, with nearly four lakh refugees taking shelter.
Relief materials, including baby food, were being provided at the camps, government sources said.
Medical teams have been deployed in the affected areas, and adequate stock of medicines and medical supplies also being maintained.
However, with situation in five strife-torn lower Assam districts stabilising, local Congress units and minority student bodies on Sunday accused the Bodoland Territorial Administration Council (BTAC) of failing to provide security.
“We have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a memorandum during his visit here on Saturday to institute a CBI probe into the entire incident,” opposition All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) president Badaruddin Ajmal said.
“There have been atrocities on the minority community for which the Congress-led UPA at the Centre, which has an alliance with the ruling Bodoland Peoples Front, is totally responsible,” he alleged.
On the other hand, General Secretary of Kokrajhar district Congress committee Mazaharul Islam Uttam alleged that BPF was behaving in the “most arrogant manner” and demanded snapping of ties with the party.
He said the current alliance was limited only to Dispur (state capital). “We have 78 of the 126 seats in the state Assembly. So why do we need help of 12 BPF MLAs?” he posed.
He accused the BTAC administration of being biased in providing security and relief to victims.
The All Bodoland Minority Students Union (ABMSU) also charged the BTAC with “denying constitutional rights to non-Bodos.”
Regarding the genesis of the current violence, he said it all started after two minority student leaders were shot at by unidentified gunmen at Kokrajhar on July 19. The next day four former Bodo Liberation Tiger members were hacked to death.
Meanwhile, Home Minister P Chidambaram will visit violence-hit areas of Assam for two days beginning tomorrow and review the security situation and relief and rehabilitation measures.
Chidambaram, who has been monitoring the Assam situation ever since clashes between Bodos and immigrant minorities broke out, will hold meetings with top civil and police officials and take stock of the law and order situation in four violence-hit districts – Kokrajhar, Chirang, Dhubri and Bongaigaon.
Chidambaram is likely to hold separate meetings with Governor J B Patnaik, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and his council of Ministers. Prime Minister Manomohan Singh had visited Kokrajhar on Saturday where he announced a Rs 300 crore package for the affected people.
The Home Ministry has so far made available 11,600 paramilitary personnel for the state to bring back normalcy in the riot-affected areas. (PTI)