E-Paper
Assam killings a wake-up call: Lalu
By killing the poor, the ULFA is sending a message to Govt, he says. Your take
The ULFA wanted to send a message to the Centre by unleashing violence on the Hindi-speaking people of Assam, Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said and assured them to impress the Centre for sending more military forces for their security.
"By killing the poor they want to send a message to the Centre," Prasad said in Dibrugarh after meeting the victims of ULFA violence in the upper Assam districts of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia.
He was addressing a huge slogan-shouting crowd of Hindi-speaking people gathered at the Assam Medical College Hospital, where the injured have been admitted.
"I repeat the Union Minister of State for Home Sri Prakash Jaiswal's statement on Sunday that the Centre holds the power to deal with those separatist elements with a strong hand," Prasad said.
Prasad assured the people that he would urge the central authorities to send more military forces.
"These people had come for the development of Assam and contributed towads its economy by doing small jobs," he asserted.
On the demand for imposition of President's Rule removing the Tarun Gogoi government, he said, he would talk to the authorities and submit a report.
Immediately on his arrival in Dibrugarh at the airport from Delhi, Yadav drove straight to the Assam Medical College Hospital where he met the injured victims admitted there and enquired about their health.
