Four killed in police firing in Assam

GUWAHATI - At least four people were killed and over 70 injured when police opened fire Wednesday on a group of student protesters in Assam’s Barpeta town, officials said.

A police spokesperson said more than 5,000 protesters led by the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) went on a rampage on the streets of Barpeta, about 140 km from here.

“The mob became violent and started attacking shops and private vehicles and tried storming the district magistrate’s office when police first resorted to baton charge and then fired in the air before firing on the crowd to disperse them,” a police official said.

Three protesters were killed and about 70 injured in the police action. One later succumbed to his injuries in a hospital.

“The mob damaged up to a dozen vehicles and more than 20 shops in the process,” the official said.

The AAMSU was demanding cancellation of the updating process of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) undertaken in Barpeta as a pilot project by New Delhi in Assam.

As part of the project, the citizens have been asked to attach some documents as proof of their Indian citizenship with the standard government form. These documents include the list of NRC 1951, electoral roll of 1966 and that of 1971.

The purpose of NRC is to identify and enlist Indian citizens in the state.

“There are many genuine Indians who names may not be there in the 1951 NRC or in the electoral rolls. But that does not mean those people are foreigners and hence we cannot expect the updating process of the NRC,” said AMSU leader A. Hamid.

“The fact that this kind of registration is done nowhere in India, brings out the dubious and illegal credentials of NRC. It has been launched with the precise purpose to target and discriminate against us (Bengali-speaking Muslims settled in Assam).”

The issue of foreign nationals, especially Bangladeshi migrants, has always been a major political issue in Assam with parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), and student groups like the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) claiming that the voters list was not free from names of illegal migrants.

The opposition parties had always accused the Congress of patronizing illegal Bangladeshis for vote bank politics.