Tinsukia, July 2: Tai Ahom Yuva Parishad activists today threw stones outside a few installations in Upper Assam during the second day of an indefinite blockade of Oil India Ltd (OIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC) offices.
Six communities of Assam, which are spearheading the demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status have called a series of protests, including a 24-hour Assam strike starting at 5am tomorrow, railway blockade on July 11 and an indefinite economic blockade thereafter. The Tai Ahom Yuva Parishad blockade is part of the protest.
The union members blockaded and threw stones outside the group gathering station III at Rudrasagar in Sivasagar district, along with other places. Sivasagar is around 140km from here and 375km from Guwahati.
The group gathering station (GGS) is an installation where oil comes through flow lines from various wells in the vicinity.
The protesters also damaged three buses and a Tata Sumo.
The activists blocked the Nazira-based Assam asset headquarters of the ONGC, the Sivasagar-based central workshop and transport cell, Demual GGS I, Rudrasagar GGS II and III, Jotakia Charali GGS, Changmai Gaon EPS and several oil fields.
This restricted the movement of employees, work-over rigs and oil tankers, besides hampering oil productions, causing huge losses to ONGC in particular.
The six communities which have been demanding ST status are the Moran, Muttock, Koch Rajbongshi, Tai Ahom, Sutia and the tea tribes.
The Tai Ahom Yuva Parishad’s Sivasagar district president, Diganta Tamuly, told The Telegraph: “The ONGC management tried to transport some of their vehicles by force with the help of the police and as a result our activists indulged in stone pelting. We take responsibility for damaging three buses and one Tata Sumo today. We warn the authorities that the ONGC’s measures will attract stiff resistance and may result in disruption of law and order.”
“Our boys are losing patience. If the government continues to turn a blind eye to our demand for a timeframe to grant ST status to six communities of Assam, including the Tai Ahoms, the situation will worsen and we will not be responsible. We have blockaded all major installations of OIL and ONGC, particularly in Sivasagar district. This includes GGS I, II and III, besides the oil field and transportation cell,” he added.
However, Sivasagar police have refuted claims of stone pelting and bus damage today.
Sivasagar superintendent of police Subodh Sonowal said, “There are no reports of stone pelting or damage to any buses plying under the ONGC today. One bus was damaged last evening after activists threw stones at it when it was returning after dropping off employees. We are providing escorts to ONGC vehicles and keeping an eye on the overall situation.”
The chief manager (corporate communications), ONGC’s Assam asset, Kashyap Joshipura, said, “All the critical operations are running smoothly. However, some of the operations, including workover operations, have been hampered.”
The workovers are major operations performed on wells, where production has gone low, to restore, maintain or improve their production. A workover rig is moved to the well to start operations.
“There have been some stone-pelting incidents yesterday and today. Several employees faced problems in reaching their workplace,” said Joshipura.
He added that the blockade had somewhat hampered daily production. “Being the weekend, work has not been affected much,” he said.
Assam, that had witnessed a slew of protests before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, affecting normal life and movement of trains, is all set to witness another round of unrest in the backdrop of the announcement made by the six organisations.
Recently, several organisations of the Moran community, headed by the All Moran Students’ Union, blocked the railway tracks on the outskirts of Tinsukia for nearly six hours, disrupting movement of five trains, including the New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express.
The organisations also burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Rajnath Singh and chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal at many places in Upper Assam yesterday.
This move came after the Centre’s modality committee had failed to meet the June 30 deadline to submit its report for the fifth time in a row, sparking anger among the organisations.
The committee is being headed by the special secretary (internal security) in the Union home ministry, Rina Mitra.
The president of the All Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Union, Rajen Kumar, said, “Come tomorrow, and we will bring down tea production to a standstill to observe the bandh call. We will not allow tea garden vehicles to ply. Our picketers will be out on the roads to deal with all those who defy the call.”
