Indigenous people assault incident: Protests in Assam, pro-talk ULFA again warns Bangladeshi migrants

Pro-talk ULFA leader Anup Chetia on Sunday said: "We will not tolerate if any outsiders assaulted indigenous people in Assam."

“If any outsider (Bangladeshi migrants) think that, Assam is not suitable for him or them, then he or they can left our soil. We are not welcoming them to the state. If anyone went aggressive, then we will also too,” the pro-talk ULFA leader said.

Earlier, the pro-talk ULFA leaders on Aug 25 had threatened to take up arms again if the state government wouldn’t take appropriate measures to protect indigenous people of Assam.

The statement came from the pro-talk ULFA leaders after another Silapathar like situation created in the middle Assam’s town Nagaon.

According to the reports, a surrendered ULFA was allegedly assaulted and severely wounded him by a gang of youths including a BJP leader of a particular community inside a commercial establishment in the middle Assam’s town Nagaon few days back.

Following the incident, Nagaon police had arrested the wounded person and his three associates after the proprietor the shop filing an FIR against them for a dacoity attempt.

Protest against the incident, several organizations on Aug 25 had organized a protest rally and demanded the district administration and state government to arrest the culprits immediately.

Pro-talk ULFA leader Arobinda Rajkhowa said that, the present state government is totally failed to protect indigenous people of Assam and the recent Nagaon incident proved it again.

“If the state government wouldn’t take appropriate measures to protect our people, we will take up arms again,” Arobinda Rajkhowa said.

The pro-talk ULFA leaders also demanded to release the surrendered ULFA members immediately and to arrest the culprits behind the incident.

Meanwhile, tension still prevails in Nagaon as several organizations and local people demanded district police to arrest all culprits behind the incident and staged protest against the incident in different parts of the state.

On the other hand, Prabajan Virodhi Manch said that, the state government and political leadership have abdicated their responsibility to the indigenous people.

Convenor the Manch and advocate of Supreme Court Upamanyu Hazarika said  that instead of protecting indigenous people, their first priority is now going to protect the migrating people of a special community, which has triggered incidents like Silapathar and Nagaon creating a language divide.

“State BJP president had recently said that, the promise of protecting Jati, Mati, Veti was in a national context and not to protect indigenous against Bangladeshi infiltration. Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that BJP did not come to power on the Assamese vote. It now remain for Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Sonowal to say that, he is the Jatiya Nayak of Bangladeshi, not of indigenous people,” Hazarika said.

The Supreme Court advocate said the permanent solution against recurrence of such incidents is to give protection to indigenous people of Assam, similar to the protection enjoyed by indigenous is other north eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and which is possible by the Assam assembly enacting a legislation reserving land, resources, government job, educational reservation, trade licences etc only for those who were citizens of India and resident of Assam in 1951 and their progeny.

On the other hand, police on Saturday had arrested another culprit behind the indigenous people attack incident from Guwahati.

Meanwhile, the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) had protested against the Nagaon incident by lighting torches across the state on Sunday evening.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)