Assam violence: BJP welcomes CBI probe

New Delhi, Dec 2: Expressing concern over the 'explosive' situation in Assam in the wake of the November 24 bloody clashes between tribals and mobs, BJP President Rajnath Singh today welcomed the government's recommendation for a CBI inquiry into the ethnic strife, claiming around a dozen of lives.

''I welcome the recommendation of a CBI inquiry into the violent and tragic incidents of November 24 in which more than a dozen innocent people lost their lives,'' Mr Singh said.

In a statement, the BJP President also demanded that the CBI inquiry should be given a time-bound schedule to ensure that those involved, directly or indirectly, in the bloody skirmishes were booked at the earliest.

''These incidents in Assam were not only inhuman but also outrageous,'' he said.

The November 24 clashes in Assam occurred when a rally by tribals demanding Scheduled Tribe status turned into bloodbath in Guwahati when some 10,000 rallyists vandalised shops, damaged vehicles and and ransacked residential complexes after they were thwarted by the police from gheraoing the state assembly complex.

''I express my concern over the alarming situation in Assam. The present explosive situation in the state can be used by miscreants to reignite violent incidents. There is an urgent need to defuse the tension and resentment among various ethnic groups,'' Mr Singh said.

The BJP leader also accused the Congress-led governments at the Centre and in the state of ''miserably failing'' to prevent the gory violence of November 24.

''It should take certain concrete steps to establish a harmonious atmosphere and prevent the state from getting caught in an inferno of ethnic violence,'' he added.

UNI