South Asia
Zero tolerance towards Bodo militants: Rajnath Singh
Guwahati, Dec 25: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said there will be zero tolerance in dealing with the Bodo militants of Assam who butchered 62 Adivasi community people on Tuesday, triggering an ethnic tension and reprisal killings and police firing claiming more lives as the toll rose to 76.
"This is no ordinary militancy. This is terror. We will deal it like terror and there will be zero tolerance like we adopt for terrorists," said Rajnath Singh, who would visit the affected areas during the day.
"Those who can indulge in such genocide will not be tolerated," said Singh.
The death toll in the spiralling ethnic violence in Assam, where tribal Bodo militant group NDFB-S faction gunned down 62 men, women and children on Tuesday in four coordinated attacks, rose to 76 on Thursday as reprisals followed and police resorted to firing to quell an unruly mob.
Bodo militants launched more attacks in Udalgiri district too.
Rajnath Singh earlier called the killings of innocent women and children by the Bodo militants an act of cowardice.
He has chaired a meeting of senior officers of MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) and MoD (Defence) to review the situation in Assam.
Singh said the MHA provided additional 50 CAPF companies to Assam for maintaining peace in the state.
The Union Home Minister appealed all sections of society to maintain peace in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts of Assam.
He is accompanied by Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who is from Northeast.
Meanwhile, Assam has been put on high alert as the death toll keeps rising.
The Indo-Bhutan border in lower Assam has been also been sealed, said reports.
The governments of India or Assam will never surrender, said Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi condemning the killings of innocent women and children by the Bodo militants.
The NDFB is an armed separatist outfit which seeks to obtain a sovereign Bodoland for the Bodo people in Assam, India. It is designated as a terrorist organization by the Government of India
NDFB-S was formed in Nov 2012, by Myanmar based NDFB\'s breakaway group\'s self-styled "army chief" I.K. Songbijit. They have vowed to "liberate Bodoland [where the Bodo tribesmen live in Assam] and Western South East Asia [read entire North East India]" from Indian rule.
Since the formation of NDFB-S by I K Songbijit, this faction has become the most violent insurgent group in Assam, engaging in multiple incidents of killing, abduction and extortion across the BTAD areas.
