Gujarat riots were state sponsored, Assam clashes were not: Tarun Gogoi

August 23, 2012
tarun_gogai

Guwahati, August 23: Tarun Gogoi, the beleaguered Chief Minister of Assam, has taken umbrage at comparisons being made between the Gujarat riots of 2002 and the ethnic clashes that have rocked his state in the last month; he says such comparison is "unfair."

"The Gujarat situation was sponsored by the state. They took months to control, thousands died. We controlled the situation within a week," Mr Gogoi told NDTV.

The CM now admits that there were initial delays in taking action when the Assam clashes began; delays he attributes to "shortage of forces and procedural delays", but he has lashed out at his detractors for the criticism that has come his way.

Mr Gogoi singles out senior BJP leader L K Advani, attacking him for accusing the Assam government of turning a blind eye to the problem of infiltration. "Advani misinterpreted my statement. I said a volcano-like situation in two districts, not the entire state. When Advani was the Home Minister, he didn't take any step like border fencing," the Congressman said.

The Assam clashes, which began as isolated incidents of murder in early July, within days turned into ethnic clashes between Bodos and Bengali-speaking migrants in four districts of lower Assam. Kokrajhar was the epicentre of the violence; almost 80 people have died and, at one point last month, 400,000 people who had fled their homes in fear crowded refugee homes set up by the government. Nearly two lakh have returned to their homes since.

Aftershocks of the clashes were felt in other parts of the country when morphed images and SMSes began to do the rounds creating panic among people from the North-East in cities like Bangalore and Pune. A few days saw many people board trains to go back home; special trains had to be run to meet the demand for train tickets to Guwahati. Mr Gogoi said, "Rumours spread like wild fire and created a sense of panic. They (students and others who rushed back home) are victims and we are encouraging them to go back. We have taken up the matter with the government to ensure that their jobs are retained."

Already reeling under the aftermath of the ethnic clashes in the state that have also earned him much criticism for what is seen by many as poor handling of the huge humanitarian crisis, Mr Gogoi also has some political storms to battle at home. His health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, considered close to him, has reportedly resigned. Mr Gogoi refuses to comment on that but is more forthcoming on accusations that he is promoting his son, Gaurab, who has just joined politics. "How could I promote my son. He has just joined. Earlier, I was promoting Himanta, Pradyut Bordoloi, Rakibul Hussain," he said.


Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 13,2020

New Delhi, Jan 13: The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response of the city police, Delhi government, WhatsApp Inc, Google Inc and Apple Inc on a plea of three JNU professors to preserve data, CCTV footage and other evidence relating to the January 5 violence on the varsity campus.

The Delhi Police informed the court that it has asked the JNU administration to preserve and hand over CCTV footage of the violence.

Justice Brijesh Sethi listed the matter for further hearing on Tuesday.

The court was told by Delhi government Standing Counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra that the police has not yet received any response from the university administration.

The counsel said police has also written to WhatsApp to preserve data of two groups "Unity Against Left" and "Friends of RSS" including messages, pictures and videos and phone numbers of members, related to JNU violence incident.

The petition was filed by JNU professors Ameet Parameswaran, Atul Sood and Shukla Vinayak Sawant seeking necessary directions to the Delhi Police Commissioner and Delhi government.

The petition also sought direction to the Delhi Police to retrieve all CCTV footage of JNU campus.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 11,2020

Malappuram, Apr 11: Farmers in Malappuram district are facing problems in selling cucumbers and watermelons due to the drop in demand and prices in the market amid the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.

"We have cultivated cucumbers for our Vishu festival in Kerala. In recent conditions, we are facing issues in selling our crops. In comparison to the previous years, we have a huge production this time," said Saifu, a farmer in the Malappuram district.

"We have also cultivated different kinds of watermelons here. The major issues that we are facing are the low prices and the lockdown," he added.

The nationwide COVID-19 lockdown was imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi form March 25 for 21 days as a precautionary measure against the spread of the virus.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in Kerala is 364. Till now, 123 people have either been cured or discharged, while two deaths have been reported.

The total number of positive coronavirus cases across the country are 7,529 including 6,634 active cases. So far, 652 patients have either been cured or discharged while 242 deaths have been recorded in the country, as per data provided by the Ministry of Health on Saturday evening.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 24,2020

Lucknow, Jul 24: A special CBI court on Friday recorded the statement of veteran BJP leader LK Advani in the Babri mosque demolition case.

The statement of the 92-year-old former deputy prime minster was recorded through video conferencing in the court of special Judge S K Yadav.

On Thursday, the court recorded the statement of BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi in the case. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.