At least five killed in clashes in India, curfew imposed

India News

Nov 24, 2007, 20:04 GMT

New Delhi - At least five people were killed and 70 injured on Saturday as residents of the eastern Indian city of Guwahati, capital of Assam state, clashed with tribal demonstrators demanding increased rights. The army were called onto the streets of the city and an indefinite curfew imposed as authorities sought to quell the violence. 'Local residents of Guwahati and the protestors clashed in the streets after the agitators went on a rampage damaging about 100 vehicles and destroying shops,' said senior police official Rajen Singh. 'The angry locals retaliated by attacking the protestors in which five Adivasi (indigenous tribal) people were killed,' added Singh. The curfew was imposed after 10,000 tribal demonstrators, backed by the All Assam Adivasi Students' Association (AAASA), held a rally demanding scheduled tribe (ST) status and tried to march towards the state parliament. Members of AAASA were demanding that the indigenous Adivasis or Santhals be considered as ST under the Indian constitution, which brings with it affirmative measures like education and job quotas. The rallying students and members of the union were stopped by police, leading to violent demonstrations in which a local magistrate was injured, local official Subhas Das told news agency PTI. Students armed with bows, arrows and sticks vandalized private property and shops and set several vehicles ablaze. Finding no state police present, local people, furious at their property being attacked, retaliated and clashed with the students resulting in several being injured from both sides, officials said. 'More than 3,000 locals were involved in the mob attack. Out of 70 injured, 30 are in critical conditions,' said Das. While the army has been called into the state capital Guwahati, a curfew has been imposed in Dispur and Bashishta, near the capital. The Adivasis are one of the oldest tribes in India and have been demanding ST status for a long time. Considered to be descendents of indentured tea labourers, they were brought to Assam by the British in pre-independence India. They constitute about 16 per cent of the state's population, or about 2.9 million. The Adivasis are also facing ethnic cleansing threats from Assam's dominant Boros tribe. India has 516 scheduled tribes spread across 22 states. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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At least five killed in clashes in India, curfew imposed

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