Members of the Karbi Students Union and Greater Guwahati Karbi Students Union at a peace rally in the wake of the Karbi-Khasi feud on Wednesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Nov. 19: The city today rallied for peace amid fear of reprisals following the death of 19 people in different parts of Assam since last night.

Violence erupted in the city during the 24-hour AASU-sponsored statewide bandh on November 17 in protest against the assault on train passengers from the Northeast in Bihar. The attacks were believed to be in retaliation to manhandling of candidates from Bihar who had come for a railway recruitment test in the city on November 9.

The city has since returned to normal but tension is still palpable.

Assam PCC took out a peace procession from Rajiv Bhavan to Dispur in which around 500 activists, including those of the Congress Sewa Dal, Youth Congress, National Students Union of India and senior party leaders took part.

Flagging off the procession, chief minister Tarun Gogoi called for restraint, as vested interests were out to exploit the situation and warned of stern action against those trying to spread rumours.

A delegation of the state-level National Integration Council visited the affected areas of the city including Beltola, Dispur, Jalukbari and Maligaon where thugs had attacked or intimidated Hindi-speaking people in the wake of the assault on train passengers. Pranab Goswami of the council said the tour was part of confidence-building measures. “We have appealed for peace and harmony,” he said.

But the most reassuring part is that people from the majority community are giving shelter to terror-stricken Biharis in the city.

As a precautionary measure, the district administration clamped Section 144 CrPC in the city prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons at one place, carrying of arms, shouting slogans and use of loudspeakers to prevent breach of peace.

Earlier, the Greater Guwahati Karbi Students’ Association and the Karbi Students’ Association of Shillong took out a similar rally from the Karbi Students’ Hostel at Junali (RGB Road) to Dispur Last Gate in the city. They urged the Assam and Meghalaya governments to douse the ethnic flare-up in Meghalaya and Karbi Anglong district between the Khasi-Pnars and Karbis and between the Karbis and Kukis.

The activists submitted a memorandum to the chief minister urging the two governments to take steps to control the flare-up. The Karbi students alleged that their fellow students in Shillong, Jowai and Ri Bhoi districts were being “harassed and tortured in the ethnic clashes with Khasi-Pnars”.

A Karbi missionary youth was set ablaze in Shillong on Monday, which led to an exodus of Karbis living in the state. The attack on Karbis followed the displacement of around 5,000 Khasi-Pnars from sector 1 of Karbi Anglong district to the Jaintia Hills.

On the other hand, the Karbi-Kuki clash has left nearly 10 Kukis dead in the district. The Kuki organisations have also appealed for peace and sanity.