Politicians hijack tragedy

New Delhi/Srinagar/Guwahati: A political blame game over the Assam violence erupted on Saturday with BJP faulting “vote- bank” politics of Congress governments at the Centre and the state and the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference holding Narendra Modi responsible.

Against the backdrop of the violence in Bodo areas that left 32 people dead since Thursday, senior Congress leader and Union Minister Kapil Sibal took a swipe at Narendra Modi, saying Modi stands for ‘Model of Dividing India’ and accused BJP leaders of playing the “communal card” to garner votes.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on his part asked BJP not to politicise the situation and said his track record in maintaining law and order was better than BJP-ruled Gujarat.

“It is my charge that in Assam what is happening is because of the vote-bank politics of Congress,” BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged at a news conference in Delhi.

Prasad alleged that the Congress had not taken adequate timely steps to prevent the riots after two similar episodes earlier.

He also questioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who represents Assam in the Rajya Sabha, as to what he had done in the last 10 years to ensure effective law and order in the state which has seen repeated incidents of clashes between Bodos and immigrant Bangladeshis.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah blamed Modi, the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate, for the violence. “In Assam, 30 Muslims were murdered. ) Why? Because BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi made a speech there and tried to incite people against Muslims. This is a fact. This truth cannot be denied,” Omar told an election rally at Tangmarg in Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency. Omar said that Modi, in his election rally in Assam three days earlier, had branded all Muslims living in that state as “Bangladeshis”, which resulted in the attacks on them.

“Three days earlier, he (Modi) went there and branded all Muslims as Bangladeshis and today 30 Muslims have been put to sleep in the grave,” he added.

Prasad attacked Sibal and Abdullah for targeting Modi over the violence and said such allegations are unfounded and baseless.

On Abdullah’s remarks, he said, “I think Omar Abdullah is not being taken seriously even by the people of his own state.”

Meanwhile, the NDFB (Songbijit) group has denied its involvement in the violence in Assam claiming it was “a political conspiracy by Assam government to trigger clashes between two communities.

A press statement by NDFB Secretary (Information and Publicity Wing) N E Esara said “we ask the Assam government and its officials to stay away from such accusation without the slightest justification”. (PTI)