GUWAHATI, Jan 6 � Failure of the governments of Assam and Meghalaya to take prompt action to deal with the situation resulted in escalation of the clashes between Rabha and Garo communities along the areas bordering two states, alleged Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.
Mahanta, who visited the affected areas yesterday, said that the State Governments failed in their primary responsibility of protecting the life and property of the people and more than 10,000 persons have been displaced in the clashes. He alleged that the Governments of Assam and Meghalaya failed to provide basic minimum facilities to the displaced people and even women and children are forced to live under the open sky in the cold winter nights. He said that the people are feeling the sense of insecurity and large number of people from Meghalaya were coming into Assam till late last night. The people also alleged that armed militants were involved in burning down of houses in Meghalaya, he added.
Though the Meghalaya Chief Minister visited some of the affected areas to take stock of the situation, his visit failed to instill confidence in the minds of the people. The condition of the relief camps also did not improve even after the visit of the Meghalaya Chief Minister, Mahanta added.
Launching an attack on the Assam Government, Mahanta pointed out that no Minister of the State visited the affected areas till yesterday, which proved that the Government did not take the issue seriously at a time when thousands of people are languishing under the open sky.
The Opposition Leader expressed the view that the Governments of Assam and Meghalaya should sit together immediately and take effective steps to bring the situation under control. He said that immediate steps should be taken to rehabilitate the displaced people by providing them full security and adequate compensation.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the AGP will meet the Governor JB Patnaik tomorrow to seek his intervention to provide shelter and compensation to the displaced people.
