PM urged Gogoi for stern action

As ethnic violence in some parts of Assam worsened over the weekend, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had to be prodded into action by the Centre with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself delivering a strong message through a phone call on Monday.

It is reliably learnt that Singh told Gogoi to deal with the situation with a firm hand and bring an end to the violence in Kokrajhar and adjoining districts as soon as possible. The ethnic clashes has claimed 46 lives so far.

The PM has also decided to visit the affected areas in Kokrajhar on Saturday, Home Minister P Chidambaram said. Sources said the pro-active intervention from the Centre was a result of reports from intelligence agencies that the state government had been slow in dealing with the situation.

The tough message was conveyed by the Centre on the ground as well with MHA officials telling the two sides that their leaders would be the first ones to be booked in case of further clashes.

"In my meetings with the leaders of both sides, I have conveyed it very plainly that if any further violent incident takes place, the leaders of the guilty party, be they ministers, MPs or MLAs or whatever, would be the first ones to be named in the FIRs," said Shambhu Singh, Joint Secretary in-charge of North-East in the Home Ministry.

Singh is part of the two-member team of the MHA camping in the affected areas. The other official is Special Secretary (Internal Security) Ajay Chaddha. Both had meetings with community leaders on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a group of Muslim MPs led by Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka K Rahman Khan sent a memorandum to the PM demanding the "immediate dissolution of the Bodo-Territorial Council", while blaming the state government for failing to take adequate measures to prevent the situation. A group of six Muslim MPs, from across political spectrum, also met Chidambaram requesting that the Centre should ensure relief and rehabilitation for the 200,000 displaced people in the quickest possible time.

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