Assam violence an ethnic clash, not communal: All India United Democratic Front

GUWAHATI: Refuting allegations against its chief Badruddin Ajmal of being involved in communal politics, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) today said the current violence is a case of ethnic conflict.

"The allegations and charges made against our party chairman (Ajmal) are unfortunate. He never made any communal statement," AIUDF general secretary Aditya Langthasa told reporters here.

"Ajmal never said that the current violence is communal or between two religious groups. Rather, he has always maintained that this is a case of ethnic conflict and we believe it is an ethnic clash," he added.

Many organisations, including the All Assam Students' Union and the Bodo Women Justice Forum had in recent days charged Ajmal with communalising the situation and indirectly forcing exodus of students and professionals of northeast from states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

"Ajmal is the Lok Sabha MP from Dhubri and most of the displaced persons of the clashes have taken shelter in his constituency. From day one, he has been busy organising relief for the victims," Langthasa said.

"The CBI has already started investigation in seven cases and the state government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the violence. We think everybody should wait for the results of the investigation to come rather then get involved in allegations and counter-allegations," he said.

The AIUDF has also called upon the central government to conduct a CBI inquiry on the incidents of harassment of people from the northeast in states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.