ABMSU blames BPF for BTAD riots

GUWAHATI: All BTC Minority Students' Union (ABMSU) accused the Hagrama Mohilary-led Bodoland People's Front (BPF) of instigating clashes in Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) in 2012. Registering his statement before the one-man commission headed by Justice (Retd) Mutum B K Singh, ABMSU general secretary Lafiqul Islam Ahmed said a faulty BTC Accord and illegal inflow of arms in BTAD caused the massacre.
On Thursday, the commission recorded the statements of five persons, including ABMSU general secretary. The one-man commission was set up to determine the causes of the violence which claimed 90 lives and rendered some 4 lakh people homeless.
"The BTC Accord was embraked upon without taking the area's communities into confidence. The accord has failed to fulfill the aspirations of the various communities in BTC. It has led to conflicts," said Ahmed. He added, "On July 25, in a peace meeting in Kokrajhar district, Hagrama Mohilary promised to prevent violence. A few hours later, in a separate meeting, he spoke of launching a massive operation against illegal migrants. This fueled the clash."
Meanwhile, ABMSU advocate Nazrul Haque Mazarbhuyan told media that ABMSU is likely to demand the commission to also record the statements of various politicians including chief minister Tarun Gogoi, BJP leaders like LK Advani, then home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and other VIPs whoever made comments on the violence or visited the spot then.