Assam leader meets Sonia, calls for CM Gogoi's dismissal

New Delhi: The ethnic Bodo-Muslim violence in Assam has now managed to have its repercussions in New Delhi, as on Friday, Independent lawmaker Maulana Badruddin met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and later demanded the removal of state chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Badruddin said that the violence was only a false front to rid the area of non-Bodos.

"I want to say that this violence is just an excuse to get the Bodoland evacuated. To occupy Bodoland a community must have a population of over 50 percent. Currently the non-Bodo population is 70 percent, the Bodos are at 20 percent and the remaining 8 percent are local communities of Garo, Raba, hence their dream cannot be fulfilled in this case. So now they are left with only alternative, to kill and butcher Hindus, Bengali's and Garo and throw them out of the area. There is a move to create so much fear and panic in their hearts, that they never come back," said Badruddin.

"We have made this demand that till the time Tarun Gogoi will be chief minister, their will be no peace in Assam. They are working with BTAD Bodoland Territorial Areas District) and this is their joint conspiracy. They planned these riots together and killed millions of Muslims in the region," Badruddin added.

Meanwhile in Dhubra, there were protests against senior BJP leader L.K. Advani for politicising the violence.

A group of protesters beat and burnt Advani's effigy a day after he had said that the violence in Assam should not be seen as a communal incident or a tribal versus non-tribal one, as the basic issue is between the Indians and infiltrators from across the border.

In recent years, Hindu and Christian tribes have vented strong anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment against Bangladeshi settlers.