Students demand governor's rule in Assam

All Bodoland Minority Students Union (ABMSU) in Assam took to streets and demanded governor's rule in areas hit by violence between indigenous tribesmen and settlers, which left 47 people dead and tens of thousands homeless.

Around 31 Muslims were gunned down in three days of what police said were attacks by tribal militants who resent the presence of immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Last month, more than 40 people from the Bengali speaking minority community were killed in Baksa district in Assam including Kokrajhar district.

President of the students union, Sahabuddil Ali Ahmed, urged the Assam as well as the federal government to seize illegal arms in Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) areas.

"We have demanded Assam and the federal government to tackle the possession of illegal arms. We have demanded governor's rule in the BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District) regions to ensure peace," said Ahmed.

Meanwhile, general secretary of the students union, Lafiqul Islam Ahmed, criticized former Congress party-led UPA government for the unrest.

"This was Congress government's policy. UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and interior minister Sushilkumar Shinde were equally responsible for the conspiracy. And especially Assam Chief Minister along with Congress and BPF (Bodoland People's Front) politicised the issue to remove Muslims from Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) areas. So we demand that the chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, should resign as soon as possible," he said.

Bodo representatives say many of the Muslims in Assam are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh who encroach on ancestral Bodo lands. In 2012, clashes erupted in which dozens of people were killed and 400,000 fled their homes.