Gogoi Must Go!
CPI(ML) Investigation Team visits ULFA hit areas of Assam
(In the wake of repeated attacks the ULFA on Hindi-speaking migrant labour in Assam, a CPI(ML) investigation team visited Hadia, Dholai, Longsuva, Moran and other areas of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts of Assam, which were among the worst hit by the ULFA killing squads. The team comprised Central Committee members Comrades Rameshwar Prasad and Rubul Sharma, MLA Arun Singh, UP State Committee member Shriram Chaudhry, Secretary of Tinsukia District Committee Shubhrajyotivardhan, AICCTU National Secretary Subhash Sen, AIPWA District Committee President Nirjhara Das, AIPWA State Committee members Shikha Das and Purbi Barthakur, joined by Mukul Yadav and Arun Varma of the local Bhojpuri Youth-Student Council. Below is an abridged report.- Ed.)
We met the families of the victims in Longsong. Arvind Gupta, son of Parasuram Gupta of Badagaon, district Ballia (UP), was a student of Class VII. He was killed by the ULFA, while his sister Rekha Gupta (10) was injured. Their father Parasuram asked, “Where can we now go? After all, the only source of livelihood we have is here.”
The site of the gruesome massacre is hardly 8 kms from the Dumduma Police Station. However despite information, police could reach there only four hours later. The family members of Vinod Gupta (who kept a paan shop) said that ULFA men took him from his home, and killed him. His brother Babloo Gupta, too, was shot. His son Aman Gupta, a student of Class VII as well as Manoj Gupta of Chhapra (Bihar) also suffered bullet injuries.
A fish trader, Satya Narayan Gupta (45 years), too, was shot dead. His father is also injured. His pregnant wife and two daughters have no source of livelihood. We also met the family Bigan Prasad. A paan shop owner, he belonged to Kushinagar district of UP. His son Sandip Gupta also suffered a serious bullet injury and is now struggling for life in Dibrugarh Hospital. Another member of the same family, Sanjay Gupta, a B Com. student, too was injured. We met the family of Javed Sheikh, owner of an electronic parts shop. 25 years old at the time of the killing, Javed was to marry shortly.
We then reached Chhala Bazar where Mukesh Shah and his newly wed wife Savita Shah were shot dead by ULFA men in Sikrajaan bazaar. We also met the victims’ families in Sadia Ghurmura, 12 kms. across the river Brahmaputra, where nobody else had visited till then. There are many Yadav families from Saidpur and Sadar tehsils of Gazipur district (UP) in this area. Their ancestors settled here a century ago. Today, most of them rear cows and engage in agriculture. On the night of January 5, ten armed ULFA extremists attacked the locality, assembled 10 children aged 11-14 years, young men as well as 3 old men in the cowshed, and butchered them mercilessly. Inhabitants of this village continue to remain here, having nowhere else to call home. But the Gpovernment is yet to make any arrangement for their security.
Two members of our team visited Dibrugarh Medical College hospital and Government relief camps. We also met many prominent citizens to discuss the whole issue. Our conclusions:
(1) At both places none of the victims’ families is in a position to leave Assam. They are clear that they have no option but to stay in Assam even if it means risking their lives.
(2) In contrast to earlier massacres, this time all the incidents took place near national highways, indicating state patronage to the killers.
(3) Many of those who were killed had settled long back in Assam and culturally too had almost become Assamese. While others were workers who had recently come to Assam, some of them were completely unorganized brick-kiln workers. All those who died were not from Bihar, but from various Hindi- speaking areas. Most of the people were poor toilers and workers. So, rather than indicating anti-Bihari, linguistic or racial riots, the attacks seem to have a deeper anti-labour character. The Tarun Gogoi Government must be held responsible for this gruesome massacre and must resign.
We participated in peace marches in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia alongside ordinary citizens of Assam – of both Assamese and non-Assamese origin. Overwhelmingly, the people of Assam want peace.