Strongly condemning the killing of five Bengalis in Assam's Tinsukia district, West Bengal Congress leadership on Friday announced that the party will observe "Black Day" across the state on November 3 and urged the Centre to dismiss the BJP-run Assam government.
"We have no words to condemn the brutal killing that took place in Tinsukia yesterday (Thursday). Congress will observe 'Black Day' across Bengal on November 3 in protest against the killings. We also demand the Centre immediately dismiss the barbaric Assam government, otherwise many more people will lose their lives," state Congress president Somen Mitra told reporters here.
Referring to the 1983 genocide in central Assam, known as the Nellie massacre that claimed more than 2,000 lives, Mitra said a similar sentiment of provincialism is being instigated by the state government as well as by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre.
"An incident like this is not only terrorising the people of Assam but also terrorising us as a neighbouring state. The way provincialism led to genocide in Assam in 1983 ... a similar sentiment of provincialism is being incited there. We think it is not just the Assam government, but the BJP-led Central government is also behind this," Mitra alleged.
"There is no place for provincialism and religious intolerance in India. Congress has always fought against any signs of provincialism in the country and would continue to do so in future," he said.
The veteran Congress leader also said the party will write a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh requesting him to visit the place where the killing took place and immediately order a probe to identify and punish the offenders.
When asked whether the Congress suspects United Liberation Front of Assam's (ULFA) involvement in the killing of five Bengalis, Mitra said the separatist outfit might have been encouraged by the actions of BJP-RSS in the state.
--IANS
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