Without making security arrangement inmates asked to desert camps: AASAA

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, January 6: “They lost everything. They aren’t mentally ready to go back to their hearth and home as insecurity continues to haunt them. For them, the relief camps are no paradise either. However, many of them want to stay in the relief camps under the custody of security personnel. Against their wish, the district administration has been forcing them to go back to their villages that are still being frequented by NDFB(S) militants,” alleged All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) president Raphael Kuzur.

Talking to newsmen in Guwahati today, Kuzur said: “NDFB(S) militants frequent many villages even as over 25,000 army personnel, besides paramilitary forces and state police personnel, have been deployed for an operation against the militant outfit.” “At Lamabarigaon in Mazbat, a number of NDFB(S) militants entered the village recently. However, the local people were courageous enough to chase them away,” Kuzur said, and added: “At Deogiri Moipur village in Chirang district, some NDFB(S) militants came and went back to the jungle by taking some cows and goats along with them recently.”

According to Kuzur, insecurity continues to  haunt the community as the operation is yet to yield the desired results. “Despite the deployment of such a huge number of personnel in the state, the operation is yet to deliver goods. We doubt the seriousness on the part of the government, both at the Centre and in the state. Such killings do take place in Assam before elections. The entire episode seems to be a game plan in which the Adivasis have been made the scapegoats,” Kuzur said.

When asked on the party that was behind the recent mayhem, Kuzur, however, refused to me any party. He, however, demanded of the government to hand over the investigation to the CID and CBI as well, besides the NIA.

AASAA vice president Pradip g said: “In Udalguri district, the police, in league with NDFB(G) members, harass the Adivasi villagers. During raids, the police take NDFB(G) militants along with them. At Swapangaon, an Adivasi–inhabited village, the district administration has asked the villagers to ensure their security themselves. However, when the villagers were guarding the village on the night of December 31, NDFB(G) militants and the police beat them up badly.”

g also said that the villages were far from being safe but the administration asked the camp inmates to go to their villages. “While in some camps, the inmates have even been threatened to desert he relief camps, in some others, the supply of ration has been stopped” he added.

Meanwhile, the AASAA declared Vikash Toppo, RN Seleng Kerketa and thuar Karmakar, who had been killed in police firing during the protest against the December 23 mayhem, as martyrs. The AASAA demanded of the government to pay compensation at the rate of Rs 20 lakh to the next of kin of each killed, Rs 5 lakh to each injured and Rs 10 lakh to each homeless family.

On January 19, Kuzur said, they would stage dhar in front of all DC offices demanding security for the Adivasis, and on January 23 they would light a lamps in each house seeking eterl peace for those killed in the mayhem.  

 Allegations
*     NDFB(S) militants frequent many villages even as over 25,000 army personnel, besides paramilitary forces and state police personnel, have been deployed for an operation against the NDFB(S).
*     At Deogiri Moipur village in Chirang district, some NDFB(S) militants came and went back to the jungle by taking some cows and goats recently.
*     The entire episode seems to be a game plan in which the Adivasis have been made scapegoats.
*     While in some camps, the inmates have even been threatened to desert the relief camps, in some others the supply of ration has been stopped.
*    The AASAA declared Vikash Toppo, RN Seleng Kerketa and thuar Karmakar, who had been killed in police firing during the protest against the December 23 mayhem, as martyrs.