With Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday outright rejecting the demand of separate states by various ethnic groups, violence broke out in central Assam’s Karbi Anglong district where supporters of separate state for Karbis attacked houses of Congress MP and MLA forcing police to open fire to quell the agitation on Wednesday.
The state administration decided to clamp curfew for an indefinite period in Diphu, the headquarters of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, as law and order of the district deteriorated after nine civilians were injured in police firing.
The problem started soon after news came about the formation of Telengana in Andhra Pradesh, hundreds of Karbi youths under the banner of various ethnic groups came out on the street of Diphu and locked the main entrance of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council. Though, the police tried to persuade the youth but failed. The youths of various ethnic groups who came in large number, resorted to stone pelting on the houses of Congress MP Biren Singh Engti, MLA Bidyasing Engleng, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council’s chief executive member Joyram Engleng and its executive member Tuliram Ronghang and damaged their property.
The police said that agitators, who belonged to Karbi Students Association, Karbi Riso Adorba and other organisations, even broke the gate of Mr Engleng’s residence and damaged the cars parked in the compound.
The police was forced to open fire as protesters started setting the tractors and cars parked at Mr Ronghang’s residence on fire.
The angry Karbi leaders threatened to intensify the agitation further as they pointed out that their demand for separate Karbi state was pending since 1951. In what was more troubling for the ruling Congress party that the local leaders of its frontal organisation NSUI also joined the protest and agitation for separate state. Earlier, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday said that his government was opposed to idea of any further division of Assam. Claiming that situation of Andhra Pradesh cannot be equated with Assam, Mr Gogoi said that he would prefer to address the grievances of all the ethnic groups instead of dividing the state. The security agencies have already warned the state administration to increase the deployment of security forces.