Civil society activists condemn Assam violence

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) A host of civil society activists Monday condemned the violence in Assam and demanded a probe by a sitting judge or an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.

Violence erupted in Assam's Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) last week when armed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) cadres attacked villages in Baksa and Kokrajhar districts. At least 31 people have died.

"We express our profound sense of grief and alarm over the gruesome massacre of Bengali-speaking Muslims May 2. This most recent round of killings - in which 31 people, mostly women and children have lost their lives - is another link in the long and... bloody sequence of ethnic cleansing being carried out by tribal Bodo militant groups with impunity," said a statement by civil society groups, activists and concerned citizens.

Harsh Mander of Delhi NGO Aman Biradari, activist Ram Puniyani from Mumbai and Nirmalangshu Mukherjee, a professor of Delhi University, were among the signatories.

The groups demanded the arrest of Pramila Rani Brahma, former agricultural minister of Assam, for making communal speeches, which according to them led to the violence.

The activists demanded that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a serving IPS officer or a Supreme Court judge be set up.

They also asked for increased deployment of paramilitary forces to ensure security of the non-Bodo people, particularly Muslims.