GUWAHATI, April 8 — The Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today informed that the State Government was in touch with Mizoram and Manipur governments for initiating coordinated action to tackle the ethnic violence that has flared up along the inter-State boundary areas in the Cachar district of Assam. Talking to newsmen here, Sri Gogoi stated that as the Hmar People’s Convention (HPC) extremists involved in ethnic cleansing of Dimasas in Cachar areas were based in those two neighbouring States, the coordination with the two State governments was the need of the hour to control the ethnic violence in the southern Assam district.
He informed that an official of Manipur government would arrive in the violence-hit Cachar district to take stock of the situation there. The Chief Minister expressed his anguish over the Central Government’s latest directive asking the State government to release at least five companies of paramilitary forces now deployed in the State. He said at a time when ethnic violence and extremist activities had rocked the State, the Centre instead of sending more forces to the State was trying to take back companies of paramilitary forces.
Reacting to the charges made by the BJP president Venkaiah Naidu yesterday against the Congress government in the State for opposing repeal of the IMDT Act and failing to check infiltration, activities of extremists and Pakistani ISI, the Chief Minister said all these were responsibilities of the Central Government. He said, ‘BJP has suddenly wake up to the IMDT issue to exploit the sentiments of voters just before the next Parliamentary polls. Why has the party-led government at the Centre failed to facilitate scrapping of the Act instead of raiising a hue and cry over it ?’ Sri Gogoi asked.
Regarding continuing insurgency-related incidents in the State, the Chief Minister said the ultras would continue to carry out hit-and-run strikes in the State unless they were prevented from sneaking in from their camps in Bhutan and Bangladesh through the porous international border in the State. ‘The BJP president should blame the BJP-led government at the Centre for continuing insurgency in the State as the Central government has failed to arrange for a foolproof vigil along the international border,’ Sri Gogoi said. Similarly, he blamed the Centre for failing to tackle the ISI activities which he termed as a countrywide phenomenon not confined only to Assam.