GUWAHATI: A peace rally was brought out on Thursday in south Assam’s violence-affected Hailakandi town with participants chanting slogans of peace and unity and requesting everyone to maintain communal harmony.
Organised by the district administration, the ‘Peace Rally’ was taken out from Deputy Commissioner’s office premises at around 3.15 pm and after passing through different localities of the town, including Bata Point, SS Road, Old Hospital Road, Kalibari, Sirajpatty and Marwaripatty, concluded at Deputy Commissioner’s office.
A security cordon was thrown around, as the rally traversed through the main thoroughfares of the town.
Prominent citizens, representatives of political parties, officials, besides civil society members from different communities took part in it.
Hailakandi MLA, Anwar Hussain Laskar, Algapur MLA, Nizam Uddin Choudhury and Katlicherra MLA, Suzam Uddin Laskar, former minister Gautam Roy, Deputy Commissioner, Keerthi Jalli and Superintendent of Police, Mohneesh Mishra participated in the rally.
The participants took a pledge to maintain peace and communal harmony at all costs.
Some of the banners and posters read “Peace, brotherhood and communal harmony – the crying need of the hour”, ” Hindu-Muslim bhai bhai”, “The greatest service we can render is loving our fellow men”, “United we stand, divided we fall” and “Let us join hands together to defeat the sinister forces once and for all”.
Patriotic and peace songs rent the air.
The rally assumes significance as it came almost a week after clashes broke out on Friday afternoon that left one dead and several injured. The administration clamped curfew immediately to bring the situation under control.
“The majority of the citizens are peace loving and do not want conflict or communal tension, as peace is imperative for development of the backward district”, Niranjan Ghosh, a participant, said.
Enamul Laskar, another participant, said conflict often makes people forget the real issues being faced by them.
“Only when we have peace in the region, we can actually move on to fight for issues that matter like better education and healthcare”, he said.
Aminul Islam, a petty trader, said it was heartening to see people from all walks of life taking part in the rally and thanked the administration for organising it at a time when the situation is fast returning to normalcy.
The administration has relaxed curfew from 7 am to 10 pm while with night curfew remains in force.