The 2004 Dhemaji school bombing occurred on 15 August 2004, on the occasion of Independence Day in Dhemaji, Assam. The bombing by the Assamese militant group called the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) killed 18 people and injured many others. Most of the victims were schoolchildren aged between 12 and 14 and their mothers.

Details

On the occasion of Independence Day, 15 August 2004, people, mostly were school children and their mothers, gathered at

Dhemaji College Dhemaji College is located in Dhemaji, Assam, India. It was founded on 1 August 1965. Dhemaji College is the oldest institution of higher learning in the district of Dhemaji. At present it imparts education from Higher-secondary to Bachelor ...

ground for an Independence Day parade. At around 09:30 a bomb went off killing at least 18 and injuring many more. According to police, the bomb was planted near the college-gate and triggered by a remote-controlled device. It was exploded when the students and teachers of various schools were passing through the gate.

Investigations

Police blamed

ULFA The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) (Assamese: সংযুক্ত মুক্তি বাহিনী, অসম) is an armed separatist organisation operating in the Northeast Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an indep ...

, a banned Assamese militant group, which had called for a boycott of the event. The group continued denying responsibility.

Aftermath

Soon after the incident the local people allegedly attacked the police vehicles at the site for failure to protect the parade. Police had to launch a

lathi charge A baton charge is a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people, usually used by police or military in response to public disorder. In South Asia, a long bamboo stick, called ''lathi'' in Hindi, is used for crowd control, and the expressi ...

and fire tear gas to bring the situation under control. The Superintendent of Police T. Thangou and the Additional Superintendent of Police Abu Sufian of Dhemaji were suspended for negligence of duty. The Deputy Commissioner was transferred for security lapse.

Reactions

The injured were admitted to the Dhemaji Civil Hospital and other 10 being critically injured were shifted to Dibrugarh Civil Hospital. Chief Minister of Assam

Tarun Gogoi Tarun Gogoi (11 October 1936 – 23 November 2020) was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Assam from 2001 to 2016. He was a member of the Indian National Congress and led the party to a record three consecutive electoral vi ...

condemned the blast stating it to be "most barbaric, inhuman and pathetic" incident. He also announced that the state would be observing 16 August of every year as Mourning Day in memory of those killed. The chief minister announced Rs 300,000 for the victims and Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured. The Dhemaji and Lakhimpur unit of AASU called a 12-hour

bandh Bandh (Devanagari: बंद) (literally: shutting down) is a form of protest used by political activists in South Asian countries such as India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the s ...

on 16 August 2004 in protest of the blast. The AASU had also demanded the resignation of the chief minister. The Assam State Committee of CPI(M) vehemently condemned the incident. It also organized a protest rally in the capital city of Guwahati on 17 August against the extremists for the killings and against the administration for the failure of protection. The committee had also called a 12-hour Assam-bandh on 18 August.

Armed Forces Special Powers Act

The chief minister

said that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act should stay in the disturbed areas to avoid the increasing activities by the rebel groups.

ULFA takes responsibility after five years

On 16 August 2004, one day after the blast, in a statement,

Arabinda Rajkhowa Arabinda Rajkhowa ( Assamese: (real name Rajiv Rajkonwar), alias Mijanur Rahman Choudhury, is the Chairman of the banned group ULFA. He is one of the founder members of the group. He was also the Vice-President of the Indo-Burma Revolutionary Fr ...

, the chairman of the group, stated that the "Indian Occupation Force" and its agents used the schoolchildren as shield to defy the boycott call of the outfit. On 13 December 2009,

Paresh Barua Paresh Baruah, also known by ''aliases'' Paresh Asom and Kamruj Zaman Khan, is the army chief of the ULFA, which is seeking Independence for Assam from the Indian Union. He is the vice-chairperson and the commander-in-chief of the United Libe ...

, the C-in-C of the group, sought public apology and forgiveness for the blast. He stated in an e-mail that the ULFA leadership was misled by some of their cadres and junior leaders about the blast, which is why the leadership had to deny its involvement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhemaji bombing Explosions in 2004 Mass murder in 2004 Terrorist incidents in India in 2004 August 2004 events in India August 2004 crimes 2000s in Assam 21st-century mass murder in India School bombings Terrorism in Assam Dhemaji