JORHAT, November 16
[dropcap]R[/dropcap]eacting to allegations that the State government has failed to ensure security to the villagers living along the troublesome Assam-Nagaland border in Golaghat district, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today blamed the neutral force for failing to maintain law and order in the conflict zone.
According to Gogoi, it is the Central government that should take the initiative to compel the neutral force to provide security to the citizens living at Ratanpur and its adjoining hamlets that witnessed killing and assaults by miscreants from the Nagaland side recently.
In a reply to the reporters on the sidelines of an inaugural function of a mega agriculture hub in the Assam Agricultural University (AAU) campus here, Gogoi said, “It is the Centre’s responsibility to compel the neutral force to protect the villagers.”
However, he refrained from spelling out the roles of both the governments in the disputed areas, which witnessed assaults, firing and arson in August this year.Meanwhile, members of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) today burnt the effigy of the Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju in the Barpathar area of the district. According to the protesters, Rijiju has not made much attempt to solve the decades-long border dispute between Assam and Nagaland, even after the villagers in the affected areas in the district suffered brutalities from Naga miscreants recently.
Courtesy: The Assam Tribune
