Clash Over Land Dispute: BTC EM and ABMSU President Exchange Accusations, Tensions Escalate

KOKRAJHAR: Arup Kr Dey, the BTC EM, and Taison Hussain, the president of ABMSU, are still at odds over the recent land dispute clash in Fakiragram that resulted in injuries to at least 11 Rajbongshi community people. The president of ABMSU condemned the role of BTC EM Arup Kr Dey in accusing him of playing a partial role and instigating the local villagers to stand against the religious minority people.

In response to ABMSU president Taison Hussain’s statement, EM Arup Kr. Dey on Monday cautioned ABMSU that he was an elected representative of the BTC, where he had the support of Bengali, Rajbongshi, Bodo, Nath Yogi, and even Muslims, and that he was not an ordinary person to fear the roaring of toothless tigers. He said he had been performing his duty for the welfare of the people as a responsible EM and he is working at the grassroot level for the party. He asked the ABMSU leaders to refrain from giving communal and hate speech over the issue saying that the incident happened when the people from the religious minority community started attacking the other party instead of a peaceful solution to the land dispute. He also remarked the ABMSU president Taison as one of the ‘hopeless’ leaders and questioned as to why he has been giving hate speech from outside. He further said the government was not further aggravating the incident but being a responsible public representative, was trying to bring back normalcy.

It may be mentioned that a group clash occurred over land dispute at Namapara village under Fakiragram police station in Kokrajhar district on June 7 which turned violent leaving 11 people injured. The altercation erupted over a 3.10 bigha plot of land between two communities, sparking a scuffle that left 11 wounded, three seriously injured. The injured were identified as Paresh Barman (54), Nipen Barman (55), Biswajit Das (34), Sukuni Burman (42), Nabakanta Barman (28), Sushanta Barman (22), Parmeshwar Barman (19), Mintu Das (37), Minati Barman (30), Dineshwari Barman (45), and Bablu Barman (37) and were admitted to Fakiragram hospital for medical treatment. Later, all the injured persons were brought to RN Brahma Civil Hospital, Kokrajhar for treatment.

Meanwhile, the Kokrajhar police team has arrested four persons in connection with the incident on Friday night from different places. They are Barimuddin Sheik (33), Makbal Hussain (40), Javed Ali Sheik (44) and Farash Uddin Sheik (33) while other five accused are absconding.

On Saturday, Minister Jayanta Mallahbaruah visited Namapara in Fakiragram to take stock of the situation. He was accompanied by BTC EM Arup Kr. Dey and Kokrajhar District BJP president Kabita Basumatary. Baruah also visited RN Brahma Civil Hospital to meet the wounded persons where they were brought for medical treatment. Minister Jayanta Mallahbaruah said in front of the media persons that there could be hands of some miscreants to disrupt the peaceful situation who are instigating certain people to go against the present government. He said he had doubts over the role of suspected Bangladeshi agents.

On the other hand, the general secretary of ABMSU Jaidul Islam while talking to media persons in Kokrajhar today warned the EM of BTC Arup Kr Dey to desist from aggravating the situation.

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