 "Lafiqul Islam Ahmed killing: Eminent citizens write letter to Sarbananda Sonowal, urge him to help victim's kin")
A group of prominent Assam citizens have written to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, urging him to help the family of slain minority leader Lafiqul Ahmed. Signed by 44 members of the Assam’s intelligentsia, the letter praised the show of solidarity in Assam after Ahmed’s murder, and added that the incident brought together people belonging to different communities in the militancy-ravaged state. [caption id=“attachment_3899845” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
File image of Lafiqul Ahmed . Twitter/@LafiqulAhmed[/caption] Calling Ahmed a “progressive youth leader”, the letter acknowledged the slain leader’s contribution in raising critical issues such as child marriage, polygamy, dowry and domestic violence plaguing the Bengali Muslim community. The letter also added:
“Ahmed’s murder leaves a big void in minority leadership in Assam, and void in the effort of all those, who, cutting across markers of identities, were working for peace and amity in the region. It will certainly take the minority community some time to heal from this tragedy.”
Thanking the Sonowal government for writing to the CBI, the letter urged the government to do more than grant monetary compensation to the family.
Requesting the government to provide permanent employment to Ahmed’s brother, the letter read, “We request the Honourable Chief Minister of Assam, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, to consider providing long-term support to Ahmed’s family. This would go a long way not only in showing political goodwill, but also in establishing a sense of social justice.”
On Friday, the Sonowal government wrote to the CBI , requesting an inquiry into Ahmed’s murder. The government earlier formed a Special Investigation Team to inquire into the matter. Praising Sonowal, the citizens asked him to follow up the case with the Centre. Concluding their letter, they also requested the media to respect the privacy of Ahmed’s family and stop “misreporting.” Kokrajhar has been on edge since two motorcycle-borne assailants gunned down Ahmed, president of All Bodo Minority Students’ Union (ABMSU), on 1 August. Sporadic incidents of violence have been reported. With inputs from PTI