Bodo MP seeks CBI probe, stages sit-in

Accusing the Cong Govt in Assam of being "insensitive", a Bodo MP sat on a dharna in the well of Lok Sabha demanding a CBI probe into recent clashes between indigenous people and Bangladeshi immigrants.

Accusing the Congress government in Assam of being "insensitive", a Bodo MP on Monday sat on a dharna in the well of Lok Sabha demanding a CBI probe into recent clashes between indigenous people and Bangladeshi immigrants and alleged that Pakistani flags were hoisted in some villages in Assam.

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"The Tarun Gogoi government was insensitive towards the plight of the indigenous people during the recent clashes. Had there been timely action, many lives would have been saved," Kokrajhar MP S K Bwiswmuthiary told reporters. He had earlier staged an impromptu dharna in the well of the House.

He demanded a CBI probe into the violence and alleged hoisting of Pakistani flags in some villages of the affected Udalguri and Darrang districts, where clashes claimed some 50 lives.

Bwiswmuthiary claimed Gogoi had declared that the green flags were Eid flags and not of Pakistan "even before conducting an inquiry."

In a memorandum to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Bwiswmuthiary also claimed that "jehadis" were waging war against indigenous people as also the Bengalis and Biharis.

He referred to "large-scale violence" against the ethnic Bodo and Garo tribes, Bengalis and Biharis allegedly by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the Bodo-dominated areas.

CPI(M) leader Mohd Salim also wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was present in the House then, to make a statement, saying the violence in Assam was being perpetrated in the name of religion leading to killings and forcing lakhs of people to take shelter in relief camps.