GUWAHATI, April 8 — Dimasa student leaders today demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident of gruesome murder of 23 Dimasa people by the extremist group Hmar People’s Convention (Democratic) in Cachar district on March 31 last. Addressing newspersons at Dispur Last Gate here All Dimasa Students’ Union (ADSU) president Sanmoni Kemprai, Dimasa Students’ Community, Guwahati (DSCG) president Smt Subarna Haflongbar and DSCG general secretary Rajdeep Kemprai also demanded that the inquiry should be conducted by a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India and the inquiry should also deal with the aspect of “political conspiracy behind the carnage”.
The Dimasa student bodies’ demands also included measures to flush out the Hmar terrorists and to bring to book all those who were responsible for the March 31 incident, besides steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future and rehabilitation of the people affected by the March 31 incident. Sri Sanmoni Kemprai alleged that the March 31 incident was a product of the clandestine relation between the NSCN (IM) and the Hmar leaders and strong grounds were there to believe that the NSCN (IM) with a hegemonistic attitude, had instigated the HPC (D) for such type of crimes against the Dimasas.
In connection with the Cachar genocide, he said that during his visit to the affected villages of Chakercham, Methantal and Jurkhal, under Sonai PS of Dholai Legislative Assembly Constituency in Cachar District yesterday, the victim families had accused one ex-chairman of Barak Valley Hills Development Council, who had migrated to India from Myanmar in the recent past, of being the brain behind the March 31 incident. This person is now staying at Hmar-Khowlin village under Lakhimpur Sub-division of Cachar District. If security forces launch combing operations in this Cachar village and Moulhoi and Sorom Hmar villages in NC Hills District, the HPC (D) ultras will surely be found there sheltering, he claimed.
There was no provocation for the Hmar extremist outfit to commit such a crime from the Dimasas, he said and added that all the 28 persons abducted around 3-30 am of March 31 (April 1), 2003 from Chakercham, Methantal and Jurkhal villages by the HPC (D) were farmers. While bodies of 23 of the abducted persons were found in Mastul Hill on April 3, five of them are still traceless, Sri Kemprai said.
Meanwhile 48 families of these villages are sheltered at a camp at the Dhalai BNMP School, while 75 families are sheltered at the Ganganagar HS School, he apprised.
The dead have been identified as Satindra Barman (58), Manmohan Barman (60), Anil Barman (36), Sunil Barman (32), Nilu Barman (30), Manoj Barman (23), Binoy Barman (35), Niranjan Barman (58), Bidyut Barman (40) of Methantal village.
The slain ones from Chakerchan village included – Shasanka Barman (40), Ranjan Barman (35), Dhiren Barman (60), Tanu Barman (25), Anjan Barman (45), Lalu Barman alias Lalmohan (35), Arijit Barman (35), Anup Barman (40). One of the slain has been identified as Abhijit Barman (27) of Lantugram village, said a list supplied by Sri Kemprai to newspersons.
Activities of six organisations of the Dimasas — DSCG, ADSU, Greater Guwahati Dimasa-Kachari Association, Dimasa Mahila Samaj, Dimasa Association of Delhi and Dimasa Students’ Union, today staged a seven-hour sit-in-demonstration from 10 am, at Dispur Last Gate in protest against the Cachar massacre. The activists also demanded steps to make life and property of the Dimasas of Cachar and NC Hills Districts secure.
Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Brindaban Goswami, All Assam Students’ Union’s Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharyya and Amiya Kumar Bhuyan and Bodoland Legislature Party’s Pramila Rani Brahma, Biswajit Daimary and Matindra Basumatary visited the demonstrators.