Assam Legislative Assembly
Guwahati: Members of All India United Democratic Front and Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) on Wednesday engaged in a heated exchange of words after an AIUDF MLA repeatedly said that the Bodo party’s name figured in the FIRs related to violence in Baksa district in May.
During a cut motion over supplementary demands of police department, a discussion was started over law and order situation in the troubled Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) by former minister and Congress MLA Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Joining the discussion, the AIUDF’s Sherman Ali Ahmed said police has not done enough in giving security and nabbing the culprit.
“In the 40-odd FIRs filed related to the violence in BTAD this year, forest guard Amiya Kumar Brahma and other miscreants supported by BPF were named. Still police is trying to divert the case by blaming NDFB(S) for this,” Ahmed said.
On his repeated mention of BPF, the BPF MLAs strongly objected to it and requested the Deputy Speaker, who was conducting the House at that moment, to withdraw the BPF’s name from recorded proceedings.
Almost all the AIUDF members rose from their seat and said Ahmed was only mentioning what was recorded in the FIRs.
This led to a verbal dual between the MLAs of the two parties with BPF challenging AIUDF to prove their involvement in the violence in BTAD.
Public Health Engineering Minister Gautam Roy requested members of both the parties to calm down.
Finally the matter settled after Ahmed did not utter BPF’s name in his further comments and said presence of illegal arms in BTAD is creating a huge law and order issue.
“Anyone can name anybody in an FIR. It can be a political conspiracy. There is a conspiracy going on to finish BPF and its chief Hagrama Mohilary. BPF is not at all involved in the violence. In fact, we also want the problems to be solved,” BPF MLA Rihon Daimary said.
Earlier, Sarma said the problem of BTAD cannot be solved only by force but a strong political will can do.
“Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is the compatible person and I urge him to go at least once to BTAD and listen to their problem. He was the man who had signed the BTC accord and every one thought peace would come to the region,” he said.
Congress has paid the maximum price for disturbances in BTAD area, Sarma said.
“BTAD clashes are curse, a black spot. It is a clash between mindset of different communities. We cannot conceive Assam without BTAD. Assam cannot lose BTAD,” Sarma said.
Nearly 50 people were killed in Baksa and Kokrajhar districts in May this year and the police department has blamed the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit) for this.
The Police has arrested 13 forest guards and two are absconding related to this incident, in which 59 families in Baksa became homeless after their houses were burnt to ashes.
In total, 77 people have been killed in various incidents in BTAD this year, Assam Assembly was informed on Monday.
Besides, 344 illegal arms have been seized in BTAD since 2012. (PTI)