12 People Killed In Assam When Militants Open Fire On Villagers
By Countercurrents
02 May, 2014
Countercurrents.org
12 villagers were killed in Indian state of Assam when suspected Bodo militants opened fire on villagers in two separate incidents . 8 people including two children were killed Balapara village and four people were killed in Gobardhana village. Those killed are Bacchu Sheikh (65), Moharbhan Bibi (50), Shonabhan Bibi (22), Jalima Bibi (25), Sayatun Bibi (45), Shohana Khatun (3), Farida Begum (4)
Nilim Dutta an activist from Assam posted this update on Face Book and posted some photos of the massacre.
"It was at a little past 18:00 hours last evening that it was reported to me that 7 Bodo men/youth carrying rucksacks had come out of Hakma Forest Village bordering the Guma Reserved Forest in Gossaigaon Subdivision of Kokrajhar District of Assam. They were reportedly walking towards north than east. I immediately escalated the information for necessary action. By the time they could be located again, they had walked towards Padmapikhuri village and after a while, crossed it and continued towards Bashbari and Barkhangbil villages, both largely Bodo inhabited. It is believed they had proceeded towards the settlement called Langdanpara.
Even though the police and the security forces arrived, rather than sealing off the area quietly, they drove into the village in 5 Boleros, as if any militants would wait for them there. No search was carried out in the villages these 7 Bodo men were seen headed to. Nor were any Police Out Posts towards the east perhaps alerted to look out for such movements.
Barely 5 hours later, at about midnight, in the village Balapara Part 1 just about 10 Km to the east of where the suspected militants were last seen, 7 Muslim villagers belonging to 3 families were gunned down in cold blood, those killed being all women and children, except one.
This attack has come just after a similar attack in another BTAD district of Baksa where 3 Muslim villagers were gunned down."
4 years old Farida Begum who was brutally gunned down by Bodo militants
in Balapara Village in Kokrajhar district of Assam.
Police also suspect the sudden attacks are a retaliation to the ongoing anti-insurgency operation by the security forces in the BTAD region, where some NDFB militants have been killed recently.
The villagers who are in shock after the incident have started fleeing apprehending more such attacks realizing such kind of incidents in the past.
“We are scared for our lives. We cannot live here like this. We have no security here. Even after the incident we are not satisfied with the security arrangement. What is the use of security after lives are lost,” a terrified Rahim Ali of Narasingbari village said.
All Bodoland Minority Students’ Union (ABMSU) condemned the attack at Narsinghbari village and vowed to carryout democratic protest in BTAD of administration fail to book culprits involved in the killing within next 24 hours. The students’ body has suspected it to be a handiwork of Hagrama Mohilary led Bodoland People’s Party (BPF), a political party which is ally of the Congress government in the state.
“The attack is handiwork of BPF cadres. They realize that BPF will face defeat in the election in Kokrajhar. To take revenge on us, BPF cadres started attack on our people”, Ibrahim Ali, ABMSU leader of Baska district told media.
Heera Sarania alias Naba Sarania, the candidate from Kokrajhar also pointed his finger towards BPF. “It’s quite obvious that BPF has done it. The way the BPF people have been behaving after the election it is known to everybody,” Sarania said.
AIUDF MLA Sherman Ali said that BPF is responsible for the incident as the Hagrama Mohilary led party which is in partnership with the Congress in the state suspecting the non-Bodo people have not voted for BPF in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Former militant Heera Sarania alias Naba Sarania who is contesting as an independent candidate from Kokrajhar constituency of BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Areas District) received support from the non-Bodo people living in the area which caused threat to BPF which used to dominate earlier.
“It is obvious that the BPF is on the back foot and it has suspected that most of the non-Bodo people have voted for Heera Sarania. The arms are still available in great numbers in the BTAD. We have been making complaints regarding this but in vein,” Ali said.
Senior Congressman Abdul Khaleque blamed BPF leader Pramila Rani Brahma for her statement that Muslims have not voted for BPF for the incident. “The kind of statement Pramila Rani has made is very communal and it has instigated the Bodo militants to trigger the violence,” Khaleque said.
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