Arrest of a legislator yesterday, for his alleged involvement in the riots, has put Bodoland on boil again. Pradeep Brahma, an MLA of Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), which is an ally of the ruling Congress party in Dispur, was arrested in the wee hours on Thursday. BPF is also the ruling party of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which has territorial jurisdiction over the four districts that make up the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) – Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri and derives power under the sixth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
Following his arrest, several Bodo organisations have taken to the street protesting the arrest.BPF has an called an indefinite bandh in Kokrajhar. Rail traffic had been disrupted due to the protests on Thursday. Also, two persons were gunned down by Bodo assailants near Kokrajhar-Dhubri border yesterday, probably as a reaction to the arrest. Though indefinite curfew was clamped in Kokrajhar, the headquarters of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), following the surfacing of unrest, there were reports of defiance as supporters continued protesting the arrest.
“Brahma is completely innocent. He is not involved in rioting and arson, rather he was working overtime for betterment of the situation and benefit of all the sections of society,” defended Chandan Brahma, BPF leader and the party’s lone minister in Tarun Gogoi government.
According to police sources, Brahma was arrested on the basis of submission of seven FIRs by Muslim riot-victims for indulging in rioting and arson. Several sections have termed the timing of the arrest wrong, as it could lead to more animosity between the two warring communities.
At least 80 people have been killed and nearly 5 lakh had been displaced in the violence so far, which erupted following the killing of two persons on July 19. Three out of four districts of BTAD – Kokrajhar, Chirang and Baksa, and adjoining districts of Bongaigaon and Dhubri (all in Lower Assam) have been affected by the clashes.
Meanwhile, R. Ashoka, deputy chief minister of Karnataka will be visiting Assam and Manipur on a three-day official ‘Goodwill Mission’ ‘from August 25 in the wake of mass exodus of North Eastern people from Bangalore.
He will be accompanied by state’s director general of police, Lalrokhuma Pachua. Karnataka’s chief minister Jagdish Shettar, in a statement issued to the press, has appealed to the fleeing populace of North East to “stay back without any inhibitions”.