A dawn-to-dusk general strike in India’s northeastern state of Assam Friday to protest the killing of six separatists by federal soldiers brought normal life to a ground, officials said.
A police official said shops and businesses, financial and educational institutions remained closed, while vehicular traffic kept off the roads.
“Attendance in most government offices was virtually nil with normal life totally hit by the strike”, an Assam government spokesman said.
The 12-hour strike that began at 6 A.M. was called by the People’s Committee for Peace Initiative (PCPI), a conglomerate of 21 influential civil society and rights groups advocating for solving the region’s violent insurgency problem through peace talks with the government.
The shutdown was called to protest the killing of six top militant leaders of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) by soldiers Tuesday in two separate incidents.
“The killing of the ULFA leaders proved that the government was not sincere in solving the problem through talks”, a PCPI statement said.
Four ULFA rebels were killed in the adjoining state of Meghalaya and two more were killed in western Assam in separate encounters Tuesday.
The ULFA, a rebel group fighting for an independent Assamese homeland since 1979, in October 2005 nominated a group of civil society members to initiate talks with New Delhi to pave the way for a bilateral ceasefire and then begin direct negotiations between government peace emissaries and the militant leadership.
The ULFA is one of the most organized rebel armies in the northeast that is home to about 30-odd rebel groups with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy.
More than 15,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency and hundreds maimed for life in Assam since 1979.
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-239/0607141538202231.htm