Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh‘s scheduled visit on Saturday to strife-torn Assam, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth reviewed the relief and medical arrangements, as well as the availability of food and other supplies for victims of the violence during a video conference with Assam Chief Secretary Naba Kumar Das on Friday. Over the last eight days, 45 persons have lost their lives and over two lakh persons were rendered homeless in bloody clashes between the Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslim migrants in Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Baksa and Dhubri districts.
Congress sources added that party president Sonia Gandhi is “likely” to accompany Dr. Singh.
On Friday evening, the Centre flew out two teams of physicians, gynaecologists, paediatricians, public health specialists, resident doctors and nurses, an official spokesperson said, to augment the State government’s efforts to provide relief and immediate medical aid to the people in the 250-odd relief camps set up by the government.
The detailed review came even as Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi hit out at the Centre for the delay in deploying the Army which, he said, led to the spread of violence. “We had requisitioned the Army on the very first day. But it took four-five days for the forces to reach the State,” Mr. Gogoi told journalists on Friday after his tour of the violence-hit areas.
Apparently, the Deputy Commissioners of Kokrajhar and Chirang districts, the worst-hit by the violence, had requested the local Army units to send their personnel on July 23. But as the Army units required clearance from the Defence Ministry, Assam Chief Secretary Naba Kumar Das then wrote separate letters to Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh and Union Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma, following which the permission materialised. But there was a lapse of 48 hours, during which time the violence spread and many more lives were lost.
Meanwhile, amidst mounting criticism of Mr. Gogoi from the Opposition parties for his “failure” to handle the situation, the Congress said it had “full faith” in the Assam Chief Minister. “We have full faith in our Chief Minister,” party spokesman Rashid Alvi said, while steering clear of commenting on Mr. Gogoi’s criticism of the Centre — that the situation had deteriorated because of the delay in deploying the Army. “There is no need to get into this kind of debate,” Mr. Alvi said, adding, “The Centre will give whatever help is required by the State.”
The party’s defence of Mr. Gogoi comes in the wake of several Muslim MPs, including three from the Congress led by the former Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan, meeting Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday to demand Central intervention to end the clashes in Assam as they had lost faith in the government there. A senior Congress Muslim leader told The Hindu that this was provoked by some statements issued by Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal of the All India United Democratic Front, and that initially many more Muslim members of the Congress were to meet the Home Minister.
