AICC chief warns troublemakers - Sonia focus on healing, harmony

 Riot-affected people at a relief camp in Assam’s Kokrajhar district. (PTI) 

NISHIT DHOLABHAI TT;New Delhi, Aug. 28: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today called for strict action against divisive forces, condemned incendiary speeches and misuse of social media and urged reconciliation among communities in Assam. In a nuanced speech at the Congress parliamentary party general body meeting in the central hall of Parliament today, Sonia said no government could stand by and ignore such treacherous activities.

 Nearly half her speech was dedicated to the violence in Assam and its aftermath whereby thousands of people from the Northeast had become victims outside the region. “The immediate need is for healing wounds and bringing about reconciliation among the communities that have been hurt so grievously,” Sonia said. 

 Her statement comes in the wake of the clashes between Bodos and Muslims in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) since July and will hopefully apply balm to the volatile situation in BTAD this week. Sonia, who visited relief camps in Kokrajhar and Dhubri districts on August 13, said the last few weeks had been troublesome for all those who cherish India’s traditions of tolerance, amity and harmony. She said every effort should be made to ensure that camp inmates return to their homes and rebuild their lives as quickly as possible.

 Her speech also contained a stern warning, apparently referring to the violence in Mumbai and Bangalore in the aftermath of the Assam violence that she termed as traumatic. “The strictest possible action must be taken against those who deliberately seek to divide us, incite and provoke people by their incendiary speeches and aggressive actions.

 They have misused the social media for their hate-mongering, causing havoc and spreading mass panic,” she said. A protest by the Raza Academy in Mumbai earlier this month had spun out of control as miscreants took advantage of the situation. Some incendiary speeches were made during the meeting at Azad Maidan into which police investigations are on.

 Exodus from Bangalore, Hyderabad and other cities, mostly in south India, was triggered by rumour-mongering through SMS messages and on Internet. The Congress president, however, did not refer to either Pakistan or an outside hand.

Speaking for the people of the Northeast, Sonia said young men and women from the region were deliberately subjected to physical and psychological assault outside. Appreciating that members of the Lok Sabha had spoken in one voice against this injustice, she said the northeasterners, like all other citizens of India, had every constitutional right to study, work and live in any part of the country in complete safety and security.

 Thousands of northeasterners study and work in commercial hubs like Bangalore and Pune. On Saturday, the deputy chief minister of Karnataka, R. Ashoka, had visited the Northeast to convince people to return. Politicians from various northeastern states have also visited the southern states to instil confidence among people from the region to stay put.