New Delhi: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Assam is on “state-sponsored fire”, after a video showed Assam police firing during an eviction drive in Assam’s Sipajhar area in Darrang district.
At least two people were killed and many others including police personnel were injured after clashes broke out between police and locals during an eviction drive.
“Assam is on state-sponsored fire. I stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the state – no children of India deserve this,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Congress leader form Assam Pradyut Bordoloi called it “persecution of minorities”.
“The systematic persecution of the hapless minorities in Assam saw its cruelest form in Sipajhar today. Shameful that sanity and rationality are becoming the biggest victims in Assam today,” he said in a tweet tagging Assam Chief Minsiter Himanta Biswa Sarma.
A purported video of the incident, that has gone viral, shows police firing on civilians after locals protested against the eviction drive. The video shows a man running towards the police with a stick, and the police resorting to firing.
On Thursday morning, officials of the Darrang district administration, supported by a huge contingent of armed security personnel, reached Siajhar-Dholpur area to carry out the eviction drive. Locals protested against the eviction and it soon turned violent, as demonstrators ‘attacked’ policemen and other district administration officials with sticks and other sharp weapons.
To disperse the crowd, police opened fire. On Monday, at least 800 families were evicted from government land by the administration and the police in Sipajhar.
