Ghatowar blames govt for mass killings

As reported in 'The Assam Tribune' : DIBRUGARH, Dec 24 – Former Union Minister and chief advisor of the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), Paban Singh Ghatowar has come down heavily on both the Assam government and the Centre for failing to stop mass killings in the State. Condemning yesterday’s gruesome killings in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar district by the NDFB(S), Ghatowar, while addressing mediapersons at the ACMS head office here, said that merciless killings of innocents one after another in different corners of Assam had totally exposed the malfunction of the State Government and the Centre. “While the State Government has failed in nabbing and neutralizing the armed rebels of the State, the Centre has failed in its role to intervene and check insurgent activities in the inter-state border areas. The armed men often unleash terror in the State and sneak into to the neighbouring States. The killings and destruction of properties are mostly taking place in inter-state border areas. The Centre has to play its role in handling the volatile situation in the State,” the former Union Minister said. Ghatowar also criticised the intellingence wing of the Assam government, suggesting that the department needs total revamp to make it strong, active and vibrant. Further, if the government’s policy on law and order is not yielding the desired results, it must be reviewed to ensure that peace and communal harmony prevails in the real sense. He also slammed the local administration in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar districts for the alleged unprecedented delay in response to the massacred and injured people with ambulances and rescue and relief team. “The government must institute an inquiry against the administrative officers for their lethargic approach to the barbaric incident. It is unfortunate that police and rescue teams reached the violence site reportedly after ten hours. It speaks volume about how the administration is treating the tragedy of such magnitude,” Ghatowar said, underlining that the administrative officers must be held guilty. Suggesting solution for incidents of such nature in border areas, Ghatowar said the State Government must develop the border areas with all necessary infrastructure. If there are proper roads, police and security forces can have easy access to the areas to check movements of extremists. “There are reports about the banned outfits roaming with sophisticated arms because security forces cannot reach the areas immediately,” he said. The ACMS leader said as a mark of protest, peace rallies will be taken out in tea estates across Assam on December 26.