Guwahati, March 8: The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) today demanded Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal's resignation, claiming that the state home department had failed to stop Monday's violence at Silapathar.

Ulfa leaders, who are currently in a ceasefire agreement with the government, threatened to "hit back" if such an incident recurred.

KMSS adviser Akhil Gogoi told the media here that the state home department and the Union home ministry had prior information that some untoward incident might take place at Silapathar. "Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal should resign taking responsibility for the incident," Akhil said.

He demanded that BJP president Ranjeet Dass and cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sarma be arrested for allegedly abetting the incident. "A day before the Silapathar incident, Dass had said in the Barak Valley that the BJP government was resolved to giving citizenship to the Hindu Bangladeshis. Besides, Sarma had also said only the Hindu Bangladeshis can protect the Assamese people. These remarks encouraged the members of the Nikhil Bharat Bangali Udbastu Samanway Samitee (Nibbuss) to attack the AASU office at Silapathar. Dass and Sarma should be arrested immediately as abettor of the attack," Akhil said.

The KMSS said the attack on the AASU office was an attack on the "Assamese people".

"Nibbuss should be banned immediately. But banning Nibbuss alone will not solve the problem. The incident took place because of incitement of RSS. That is why RSS should also be banned," Akhil said. He claimed that besides RSS, members of the BJP were also involved in the attack of AASU's office.

"The BJP and RSS are trying to destroy the social fabric of the state and bring it back to the days of the Assam Movement and Language Movement. They want to keep Assam as a conflict zone and bring uncertainty to the lives of the Hindu Bangladeshis who entered Assam before March 25, 1971 to reap their own political benefits," Akhil said.

He appealed to all Hindu Bangladeshi people who have been living in Assam for generations not to fall for the "ploy" of the BJP and RSS.

"Through the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the BJP is trying to give an impression that they are concerned about the Hindu Bangladeshi people. It is wrong. Rather, their lives will be thrown into uncertainty through the bill," Akhil said.

The KMSS had been organising meetings in every nook and corner of the state against the bill since January 4. Akhil said by the end of March, people from 26,000 villages of the state will send letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding scrapping of the bill, resignation of Sonowal and arrest of Dass and Sarma. It will also organise a protest programme in the city this month in support of their demands.

The Jatiya Aikya Mancha, a union of 18 public organisations, today burnt the effigy of Sarma, alleging that his statement on Hindu Bangladeshis was responsible for the incident.

Akhil appealed to the people of the state not to engage in activities like burning shops owned by Bengali people and beating up those from the Bengali community. "The design of the RSS and BJP is to bring a rift in the society and incite the Bengalis and Assamese to fight against each other. This will help the BJP and RSS," he said.

The Ulfa today said the Centre and the BJP-led state government are the main culprits behind the incident for promising citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis.

Ulfa leader Jiten Dutta threatened that they would "hit back very hard if any such attack is repeated". "The ransacking of the AASU office is an attack on local people by the Bangladeshis and their supporters," Dutta said, adding that if the situation demands "we will not stop from picking up arms".

Dutta criticized several ministers, including Union home minister Rajnath Singh and state health and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, for taking the side of Hindu Bangladeshi on earlier occasions.

Eleven students and youth organisations, representing the Dimasa, Sootea, Moran, Muttock, Goria-Moria and Bishnupriya Manipuri communities, termed the incident as an attempt to make Assam another Tripura, where the indigenous people are a minority. They said the incident was an attempt by the ruling BJP to divert the issue of the Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Project.

The KMSS also demanded the arrest of the Samitee's Assam president Sahadev Das. Sources said Das is also a member of the Bodoland People's Front, a partner of the BJP-led coalition government in the state.