Anti-immigrant call drowns Assam
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While trouble-torn Bodoland Territorial Council areas are now returning to normal, polarisation against immigrants has intensified outside BTC areas and Upper Assam districts.
Hundreds of people in Upper Assam’s Jorhat took out a huge march urging residents not to hire Bangladeshi workers.
They demanded that Bangladeshi immigrants be identified and deported. The local media reported that the bideshi bhagao andolan was organised by 'Sachetan Akya Manch', a new outfit.
The situation had got surcharged after a 12-hour bandh by All Assam Minority Students Union on Tuesday turned violent.
The state government directed deputy commissioners to enforce recent guidelines by the Supreme Court and Gauhati high court prohibiting bandhs.
State home secretary Gynendra Tripathi told this newspaper: “We instructed all deputy commissioners to take strict action against organisations calling bandhs in the state.”
He said the administration was ordered to ensure the Supreme Court directions were enforced effectively, and to take preventive action against those supporting bandh calls.
The protest march in Jorhat has come close on the heels of some little known organisations serving 'quit notice' to suspected Bangladeshi workers in Upper Assam district.
According to reports published in local media, an outfit 'Khilanjiya Surakha Akya Manch' has served notices to 'suspected foreigners' asking them to vacate upper Assam by September 5.
The outfit has also made an appeal to the residents of Upper Assam not to provide shelter or houses on rent to suspected immigrant workers.
Meanwhile, situation in violence hit districts of Barpeta, Sonitpur and Nagaon districts where curfew was imposed on Tuesday following the clashes between AAMSU supporters and shopkeepers has started returning to normal on Wednesday.
The DIG (Western Range) Mr Surendar Kumar, who is camping in Barpeta, said that at least 50 people have been arrested for rioting and arson at Barpeta Road town on Tuesday.
“We have intensified patrolling and flag march of security forces in trouble-torn areas besides forming peace-community to resotre harmony,” he said adding that situation was limping back to normal.
The superintendent of police Nagaon Mr Vivek Raj said that curfew was relaxed for few hours in Ambagan area where some incident of arson was reported during the bandh on Tuesday.
Admitting that some people had fled their home fearing attack, Mr Raj said, “The refugees mostly women and children have started returning to their respective villages.”
The curfew was also relaxed in trouble-torn Tezpur in Sonitpur district on Wednesday.
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