Violence followed by Gandhi march

It was Thursday the 30th October 2008, when Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) was organizing a ‘Gandhi March’ from the party headquarters at Rajiv Bhawan to Mangaldoi, the headquarters of Darrang district. The march started at 9 a.m. and proceeded by road for propagating the message of ‘peace and non-violence’, which is central to Gandhian philosophy

The citizens’ life was normal till then and the people came out of their houses for their work places unaware of any untoward incident likely to happen without notice. The weather was pleasant and office goers were busy rushing for their work. It was a busy day for courts, schools and colleges, markets and business establishments. Children reached their schools in time and daily wage earners were busy in their work. Nobody could guess what was going to happen within next few minutes.

All of a sudden at 11.30 a.m. the news came from Dispur, the capital of the state that a bomb blast in the Ganeshguri vegetable market had taken several lives and within moments the news of serial bomb blasts came from different parts of the city. The District Commissioner’s office and the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s office faced another severe blast killing and injuring dozens of people. The busy markets of Fancy Bazaar and Pan Bazaar got immediate shocks, totaling six blasts reported from Guwahati city alone

Further, the reports of more bomb blats came from other parts of the state. Barpeta Road, Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar, the headquarters of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) had to face similar blasts. It was within fifteen to twenty minutes when 14 blasts took place killing more than sixty-seven innocent persons and injuring about four hundred. Unofficial reports reveal the number of killed in hundreds. The excited people angry over the security lapses indulged into violence and a number of vehicles were set ablaze in Guwahati. Immediately, the curfew was clamped in some areas and red alert sounded throughout the state.

The entire city wore deserted look due to immediate closure of the markets and establishments following the breakup of the violence. The security personnel were deployed at the vulnerable spots. The administration came up with assurances of providing security and safety to the life and property of the people, just like on all other occasions. The people’s anger was seen against the government due to this type of ‘false assurances’.

Security lapses continued despite people’s demand, as those responsible for duty were busy in pleasing their ‘Bosses’ and none had time to look after the problems faced by the common man. The state police responsible for security and safety of the people’s life and property simply suspected it the handy work of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) militants and after giving a statement on violence matters it feels its duty is over and the chapter is closed. No inquiry is done whether it was really the act of same organization or some other elements were involved having anti-national views. Several organizations through memoranda and other means tried to awake the administration, but their efforts were all in vain. Their grievances were treated as ‘politically motivated’ and no action was taken on them having serious thought. The people of hold the state government responsible for the let up in law and order situation in the state.