Rabri Devi condemns ULFA attack,demands security for Biharis in Asom

Patna, May 16 (UNI) Former Bihar Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Rabri Devi today expressed serious concern at the killing of Biharis by ULFA extremists in Dibrugarh and Shivsagar districts of Asom and demanded stern measures for the safety and security of the people.

In a statement here, Rabri Devi said people from Bihar had immensely contributed to the economic and cultural growth of Asom and were living in the North-eastern state for the past many generations.

Regretting that Hindi-speaking people in Asom, specially those from Bihar, were now being singled out by the ULFA ultras for murder, while the Asom government was doing ''virtually nothing except making lip services'' by announcing compensations to the victims and their kins.

'' There is an urgent need to evolve a comprehensive policy to check the unabated violence against the Hindi-speaking people in Asom instead of handling the issue in a casual manner, '' Rabri Devi felt.

She said, '' In a federal structure, people have the right to earn livelihood in any part of the country without being discriminated on the basis of caste, creed and lingua franca. '' Such kind of incidents were bound to have serious repurcussions on unity and integrity of the nation, she said and suggested the deployment of paramilitary forces in those areas of Asom, where the concentration of people of Bihar was maximum.

UNI