'Once demographic fear becomes campaign language, it legitimises social targeting.'
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma addresses the Karbi people's demand to evict alleged Hindi-speaking encroachers from grazing lands, citing a stay order by the Gauhati High Court. The situation follows violence in West Karbi Anglong district over land encroachment allegations.
The Assam government on Tuesday distributed the report of the Tewary Commission, which had probed into the 1983 Nellie massacre during which over 2,000 people were killed, and large-scale violence that year, in the Assembly on first day of Winter Session.
A 14-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by three persons in Assam's Nagaon district, triggering massive protests by people on the streets.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should avoid visiting the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva at Batadrava on January 22, as there can be no competition between Lord Ram and the medieval age Vaishnav saint revered as an icon in the state.
The Assam government wants to ban polygamy as "a component of the Uniform Civil Code" and will form a committee to examine whether the state legislature was empowered to prohibit the practice prevalent in parts of the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday.
Though the legislator of Rupohihat, Nurul Huda, stopped the drive in Sitalmari area of Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary for a while claiming it was illegal, the exercise resumed later, a senior official said.
The Assam government on Tuesday began clearing nearly 1,900 hectares of forest and government land in Sonitpur district, affecting 12,000-odd people who were allegedly staying there illegally for decades, a senior official said.
The drive met with opposition in Tinsukia in upper Assam leading to lathicharge by the security forces, while in Sonitpur the alleged illegal settlers claimed that it was launched about a week before the stipulated date.
Nearly 86 lakh people in the state's 32 districts have been affected by heavy rain and subsequent floods this year, bringing life to a screeching halt in many parts.
Rediff.com's K Anurag visits Anhotguri in Nagaon district in central Assam, where buffalo fights continue to be held as a tradition on the first day of the month of Magh as part of the Magh Bihu festivities.
Himanta Biswa Sarma -- who is also the North East Democratic Alliance convenor -- took the oath of office and secrecy in Assamese.
People spent a sleepless night as a series of aftershocks shook Assam after a strong 6.4 magnitude earthquake caused extensive damage to buildings.
'Assam is not a dumping ground for Bangladeshi Hindu refugees,' says Assamese actor Ravi Sharma who joined the BJP in August and quit the party on December 10 in protest against the Citizenship Act.
'They know everyone and have everyone's horoscope. If they feel Himanta Biswa Sarma is the right man for Assam, they will give it to me, if they feel Sarbananda Sonowal is the right man, they will give it to him, or if they feel both of them are not good, let's bring another person'
The epicentre of the tremor, which occurred at 12.30 am, was at Rangapara in central Assam's Sonitpur district.
Two adult Rhinos with their horns chopped off were found dead today in separate forest areas of central Assam.
Two persons including a woman were killed and several houses damaged when a wild elephant went on a rampage at Junglebasti village in Amlakhi Tea Estate near Kaliabor in Nagaon district of Central Assam on Sunday night.
Stating that the deceased have been identified as Abu Hanifa and Riyazuddin, the SP said their parents have registered a complaint with the police and investigations are on.
Helpline phone numbers have been activated: Dimapur 03862-228404, Lumding 03674-264848/49/50 and Guwahati 0361-2731621/22/23
After a gap of 75 days, the North East Frontier Railway has decided to resume passenger train service along the Lumding-Badarpur hill section that passes through the insurgency ravaged North Cachar Hill district after Assam government assured proper security along the route.
Three Hindi-speaking traders were shot dead by suspected KLNLF militants in Central Assam's Nagaon district early Monday morning, police said.
A powerful bomb exploded on a railway track in Karbi Anglong district of central Assam early on Thursday morning. According to the police, the attack was targeted at the Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express by militants from the suspected Karbi Longri National Liberation Front insurgent group. Nobody was injured in the blast. The incident occurred five kms away from Diphu, just after a security escort engine for checking the tracks passed the area.
The ongoing agitation against infiltration in Assam on Thursday took a communal turn with clashes reported in Rowta in central Assam, killing one and injuring seven others critically. Clashes broke out between two communities and the Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta informed that police had recovered one dead body from the area. "The situation is tense but under control," he said.
At least three persons were killed and about 30 others injured when a powerful bomb explosion ripped through the coach No 8209 of Guwahati-Tinsukia passenger train near Diphu Railway station in Karbi Anglong Hill district of Assam at around 8:15 this morning.
At least four Hindi-speaking people were shot dead and two others injured by militants from the banned outfit National Democratic Front of Bodoland in Assam on Tuesday.Heavily-armed NDFB ultras fired from AK-47 rifles on a group of people near Naharani tea estate at Rangapara in central Assam's Sonitput district at 9.30 am, killing the four, police said. Besides two women, a man and a boy from the same family were shot dead by the militants.
A superintendent of police and another police official were killed in an encounter when tribal militants from the Karbi People's Liberation Tigers ambushed them in Karbi Anglong district of central Assam late on Thursday night.
Killing of a 30-year-old correspondent of the largest circulated vernacular newspaper in Assam by some unidentified assailants at Mourajhar area in Hojai in Nagaon district of Central Assam rocked the Assam Assembly on Thursday with Opposition members demanding action from the government to nab culprits.
Meanwhile, Dr Singh on Monday gave assurance to 24 religious and cultural heads (satradhikars) of Vaishnavite monasteries from Majuli, the largest inhabited river island in the world, to continue the campaign for acquiring world heritage tag for the endangered river island located in the bosom of mighty Brahmaputra River in Jorhat district of Upper Assam.
Hima Das represents the generation of Naya Bharat athletes who are conscious of their responsibilities towards their society, state and country.
Police claimed that it was an operation carried out by 20-odd armed militants belonging to the proscribed United Liberation Front of Asom and tribal militant group Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front.
This card is a variation of the popular Kisan Credit card.G-Card was distributed to nearly 3,500 small and marginal farmers growing ginger in the remote militant infested district of Karbi Anglong. The card has brought a lot of benefits to the farmers of the area, who often had to shell out 'revolutionary taxes' on cash transactions.
Police sources in N C Hills said the DHD (J) ultras, also known as 'Black Widow', arrived at the saw mills and fired indiscriminately killing eight on the spot.
A senior police official said it was a lethal blow to the outfit when Prabal Neog, the most- wanted commander of the outfit's highly active 28th battalion was apprehended
The Hamren-bound passengers reported the incident at the Milu police outpost under Kheroni police station, about 130 km from Diphu.
The 12-hour Assam bandh was called by the youth wing of former chief minister Prafulla Mahanta's new party to protest against the recent ethnic violence in Karbi Anglong district.
This was in retaliation for the torching of 58 houses and destruction of property in two Dimasa villages in a pre-dawn\nattack on Saturday, the SP said.
The militants accosted Prasanta Kumar, shot him, tortured him and then dumped his body at Tangla area.
The exlosions were carried out by ULFA militants.
Assam Chief Minister and Congress veteran Tarun Gogoi on Monday sought to downplay the much hyped 'Modi magic' of the Bharatiya Janata Party it saying "Modi magic won't work here in Assam which has its own mystical magic hub Mayong".