BJP pins its hopes on anti-immigrant sentiment in Assam polls

April 04, 2016 17:30

It's dusk, and a group of young boys huddle around a hawker, talking feverishly. Some are members of the local unit of All Assam Students Union, some ex-AASU office bearers, and several local college boys. The hawker '" possibly from Uttar Pradesh -- tosses chana, a popular street snack in Assam made of peanuts, peas, green gram, and chopped onions, into paper cones for the boys.In the semi-darkness, several heavily armed paramilitary force personnel can be spotted going up and down the road, most likely keeping a watch on the boys. Some distance away, a group of police personnel are hurriedly getting off a van and trooping into the office of the local superintendent of police.

No streetlights are on.

The shutters of a few shops are already down.

Having witnessed the six-year long students' agitation against illegal immigrants in the 1980s, this scene in Majuli was a moment of deja vu for this correspondent. Read

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