Can send 500 Bodo youth to Kashmir to fight terrorists, says Ex-rebel leader Hagrama Mohilary
The Bodoland Territorial Council chief condemned the Pulwama suicide attack and insisted that the Central government avenge it saying,
Published: 16th February 2019 07:24 PM | Last Updated: 16th February 2019 07:24 PM | A+A A-
40 CRPF personnel were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama. (Photo | PTI)
GUWAHATI: Outraged over Thursday’s suicide attack at Pulwama which left 40 CRPF personnel dead and many others injured, Assam’s former rebel leader-turned-politician Hagrama Mohilary on Saturday said he would send 500 Bodo youth to Kashmir to fight the terrorists if the Centre approves it.
“We have a lot of Bodo youth who can fight the terrorists in Kashmir and if it so warrants, we can send 500 of them. The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) will take care of their salaries,” Mohilary told reporters after visiting the house of Maneswar Basumatary, who was among the slain CRPF jawans, at Kalbari in Assam’s Baksa district.
Mohilary was the chairman of erstwhile insurgent group Bodo Liberation Tigers which had shunned violence following its signing of the Bodo Accord with the Central government in 2003. Currently, he is the chief of BTC which administers four Assam districts.
“The Bodo youth I will send should be allowed to go on the offensive. The Government of India has always been on the defensive (on the Kashmir front) but it hasn’t paid off,” Mohilary said, adding, “We have many Bodo youth. We can send as many as required to Kashmir after giving them training”.
The BTC chief condemned the suicide attack and insisted that the Central government avenge it saying, “Government of India should permit the Army to go on the offensive. It is time for the Army to go on the offensive”.
Meanwhile, outraged over the terror attack, a group of youth in Guwahati on Saturday took out a procession chanting anti-Pakistan slogans and forced the closure of shops and commercial establishments in some areas. Elsewhere in the state, people lit candles to pay homage to the slain jawans.
Amidst the outrage, MLA Aminul Islam of opposition, All India United Democratic Front courted a controversy. He wrote on Facebook, “Why do terror attacks always take place in Kashmir ahead of general elections in India?”
Many users on the social networking site criticised him for the comment and demanded an apology from him. When contacted by this correspondent, the MLA refused to give any comment.
