Little Masum Begum could not hide her tears as she described the night when her mother, father and two-month-old brother were killed in the violence between immigrants minorities and Bodo tribals.
“I saw my parents being dragged away … all of them were killed … this was the worst time of my life,” Masum
Islam a resident of Musalpur town in lower Assam told a visiting PTI correspondent.
Ranoj Basumatary, on the other hand, said the situation could have been controlled had the government taken
premptive action.
We have heard that the home ministry had warned the Assam government, but no action was taken. This is
deplorable,” Basumatary said.
A total of 46 people have died so far and more than two lakh rendered homeless in the district with the situation
in refugee camps pathetic.
“There is shortage of rice and dal being supplied to the more than two lakh who have been sheltered in relief camps
in Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts,” RTI activist and peasant leader Akhil Gogoi said.
The government has totally failed … we demand adequate compensation”, Gogoi said.
A fact finding team of the opposition Asom Gana Parisahd also alleged lack of amenities and ‘total negligence
by the government’.
“We have visited the camps and found no facilities from the government side … this is ridiculous,” two time
former Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said.
Meanwhile, the Kokrajhar district administration is gearing up for tomorrow’s visit by Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh.
The National Security guards are ready and security measures have been tightened in view of the PM’s visit,” a top
police official said.
————————PTI