GUWAHATI, Aug 18 ? The people of Assam today spontaneously registered their protest against the brutal killing of 14 women and children in Dhemaji on the Independence Day by observing a 12-hour Assam bandh. Apart from a few stray incidents of pelting of stones, the bandh was by and large peaceful. The call for the bandh was given by the All Assam Students? Union (AASU) in protest against the killing of innocent women and children in Dhemaji and demanding resignation of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for the failure of the Government to protect the lives of innocent people. The AASU is also demanding creation of a violence-free atmosphere in the State.
The bandh paralysed normal life all over the State with vehicular traffic staying off the roads. The impact of the bandh was total in Guwahati city with very thin attendance in the Government offices, while, vehicular traffic including the city buses and private vehicles stayed off the roads. The banks, financial institutions, educational institutions, shops and business establishments etc remained closed. Though the train services were not affected, the attendance in the headquarters of the North East Frontier Railways in Maligaon was very thin. According to police sources, apart from a few stray incidents of stone pelting on vehicles, the bandh passed off peacefully in the city.
Meanwhile, the All Assam Students? Union (AASU) has thanked the people of the State for peacefully observing the bandh. In a release here, AASU president Prabin Boro and general secretary Amiya Kumar Bhuyan said that all sections of people of Assam want creation of a violence-free atmosphere in the State. The AASU will also hoist black flags in all the educational institutions of the State tomorrow to protest the killing of women and children in Dhemaji.
The AASU also strongly condemned the attack of two doctors of the Guwahati Medical College by ?miscreants? and revealed that a team of the AASU visited the college to take stock of the situation by meeting all concerned. The All Guwahati Students? Union (AGSU) will burn the effigy of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi tomorrow in protest against the arrests of AASU members in the city during the bandh period.
Our Staff Correspondent adds from Dibrugarh: The bandh was spontaneous in the Upper Assam districts and the people responded to the call to register their protest against the killing of women and children in Dhemaji. A few students were arrested in Dibrugarh, Sivasagar and Tinsukia for trying to enforce the bandh. It is after a long gap that a bandh call received such support from the public, observed a CRPF man on duty.
Our Correspondents report: Tezpur: The bandh was total and peaceful in Sonitpur district. All the educational institutions, banks, business establishments, Government offices etc remained closed. The inter- state bus services also remained suspended. Police arrested 12 AASU activists in Tezpur but they were later released.
Dhubri: As the call for the bandh was given on a genuine and humanitarian cause, all sections of people of the district responded to the call spontaneously and the bandh totally paralysed normal life. No untoward incident was reported from any part of the district during the bandh period.
Badarpur: The people of the Barak valley also registered their protest against the brutal killing of women and children by observing the 12-hour bandh. All the offices, educational institutions, banks, shops etc remained closed in the Railway town of Badarpur, while, the vehicular traffic stayed off the road. Cross sections of people of Badarpur strongly condemned the brutal and inhuman killing and took out a procession in the town yesterday.
Our Correspondents from Mangaldoi, Nalbari, Morigaon, Jagiroad, Dhekiajuli, Itakhola, Rangiya, Jagiroad, Dergaon, Goreswar, Jamugurihat and other places also reported that the bandh paralysed those areas of the State.