Letters: Assessing Assam

This refers to the editorial "Assam turns violent again" (May 6). Organised massacre is not new to Assam. It is home to the Nellie massacre. Last Thursday's attacks that claimed 32 lives are a sad reminder of the divisive forces that resort to killings for selfish motives. It exposed the state's failure to protect its own people. It is inexplicable that the Tarun Gogoi government, which has seen such attacks in its rule, has been unable to deal with the situation. While the killings continued, the Centre played second fiddle till the state made a request for the army to intervene. The regionalism posture adopted by the militant outfits in Baksa and Kokrajhar districts taking an extreme form is a cause for concern. The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (IK Songbijit) targeting Muslim migrants is anti-national since every citizen has a right to work and live anywhere in the country. Since violence is not a substitute for dialogue and negotiations, one hopes that Gogoi tackles the violence before it reverberates across the state.

R Prabhu Raj Chennai

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