RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav today asked Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani to lead an all-party delegation to strife-torn Assam and asked him to restrain the Shiv Sena patriarch, Bal Thackeray, from making inflammatory statements that threatened national unity and integrity. ‘‘I asked Advani to rein in Thackeray as the outbursts, at a time when Assam is burning, will aggravate the situation. Moreover, such threats pose a grave danger to the unity and integrity of the country,’’ he said. In Assam, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi claimed that the situation is under control, thanks to the people reacting strongly against the violence. Intellectuals and social activists today came out to call for an end to the strife. A series of peace rallies were brought out all over the state today, most of them spontaneous, with people from all walks of life, apart from students participating in them. Newspapers carried appeals on the front page with leaders of different student and youth organisations, including the AASU, putting signatures endorsing an appeal for peace and sanity, and warning the people against ‘‘evil’’ designs of vested interests. Leading the crusade is educationist Hiren Gohain, who said: ‘‘The violence won’t help deliver the goods and will ultimately prove to be frustrating.’’ ‘‘It’s time we listened to our own conscience. We must ask ULFA on what basis it presumes to ask all Hindi-speaking people to leave. Can it take responsibility for the Assamese in the rest of the country when they become victims of violence unleashed as a result of its demands here?’’ said D.N. Bezboruah, editor of The Sentinel.
