Says the government will not talk with them at any cost
Guwahati : Home Minister Rajnath Singh has ruled out talks with Bodo ‘terrorists’ who massacred 78 Tribals in Assam. After visiting some of the affected areas in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts, Rajnath Singh said, “The violence is not merely a case of insurgency but one of terrorism. We are going to deal with this sternly.”
He said the central government “will adopt a zero tolerance policy” towards terrorism and declared that “there would be no talks at any cost” with such militant outfits.
The comments from Rajnath Singh, who flew into Assam on Wednesday evening, came as the death toll in the Tuesday horror in Kokrajhar, Sonitpur and Chirang districts rose to 73 Thursday, officials said.
Those slaughtered include 21 women and 18 children. Scores of others have been injured in the mayhem. On Wednesday, three more tribals died when police fired at thousands who took to the streets.
The minister asked the Assam government to take time-bound action and promised all help from the central government.
Rajnath Singh said 50 companies of paramilitary forces had been rushed to the state, and the army and Assam Rifles had been asked to cooperate with the police to control the situation.
He said the central government had taken up with Bhutan and Bangladesh the issue of militants from India’s northeast hiding there.
“One country has assured cooperation, and we are sure the other will also cooperate.”
Rajnath Singh Thursday morning visited Sonitpur and Kokrajhar, where he went to a few relief camps where hundreds have taken shelter after fleeing their villages. The Bodo militants had torched many homes.
The minister also met with security personnel.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who is from Arunachal Pradesh, and Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram accompanied Rajnath Singh to Assam.
Rajnath Singh has already met Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Director General of Police Khagen Sarma, Chief Secretary Jitesh Khosla and other heads of security forces in the state.
Singh also announced that the National Investigation Agency would probe the NDFB(S) attacks and assured the Assam government of Army’s assistance, if necessary, in its crackdown on militant organisations.
In the Gossaigaon area of Kokrajhar district several houses of Bodos were set ablaze by adivasis early in the morning despite an indefinite curfew clamped in the entire district, a police official said. Sonitpur district bore the brunt of the violence where six more bodies were found this morning from Maitalu Basti under Zinzia police station bordering Arunachal Pradesh, taking the district’s individual toll to 43.
Three adivasis were killed in police firing on protesters on Wednesday.
