Guwahati: Tension gripped western Assam town of Dhubri bordering Bangladesh after clash broke out between two groups of people belonging to two different religious communities on Saturday.
Police resorted to lathi-charge to bring the situation under control as a group of people vandalized shops belonging to a specific community in the town. The chief minister Tarun Gogoi who also holds the home portfolio said the situation was now under control.
Gogoi raised alarm that communal forces, both Hindu and Islamic fundamentalists, were active in the state and trying to create conflict.
The communal clash broke out in Dhubri following the assault of a Muslim youth on Friday evening in the wake of some unidentified miscreants dumping beef in front of a Hindu temple in the town earlier on Friday.
Gogoi said “The happenings in Dhubri, which flared up to a communal clash today before being brought under control by the police, is the doing of fundamentalist forces. Communal forces are active in the state. There are both fundamentalist Hindu elements as well as Islamic groups. The government was on the constant vigil to keep such elements at bay.”
Although police intervened and managed to control the situation immediately, the situation turned worse on Saturday morning as hundreds of people belonging to one community took to the streets protesting against Friday’s assault on the two youth. Police resorted to baton-charge, leading to injuries to many protesters.The administration imposed Section 144 that prohibits assembly of more than 10 people in the entire district to ensure that the violence does not spill over.
Police have arrested 19 people so far for inciting violence.Curfew was imposed from 1 pm today until further orders as the situation deteriorated at Kalowal Bazar area under the police station limits, District Deputy Commissioner Nazrul Islam said.
He further said there were reports of communal elements trying to disrupt the Eid-uz-Zuha celebrations in the state. “In spite of these forces wanting to create communal strife during Eid on Frida, the festival passed off peacefully due to the efforts of the security forces and cooperation of the people,” he said.
Claiming that the overall security scenario in the state has witnessed improvement, the CM quoted from the annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs that mentioned about improving situation in Assam barring a few incidents.
