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Hindu radical outfit, Bajrang Dal, called for a twelve-hour shutdown here on Monday, in the wake of the recent ethnic clashes between Bodos and a minority community in parts of the state. Bajrang Dal activists accused Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, leader of Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), of masterminding the clashes. They also alleged that the government was neglecting the Hindus and not paying heed to their problems. Interacting with media here, Dhurba Jyoti Kalita, one of the activists, said, “It (the ethnic clashes) was all started by the Muslims.The mastermind of this violence is AUDF leader Ajmal. We have called for a shutdown today, and we demand his arrest. The government is not paying any heed to the problems of the Hindus. Why is that when Muslims are targeting Hindus, they are not being arrested, but Hindu leaders are getting arrested?” The activists further demanded the sealing of the Assam-Bangladesh border and the updating of the National Register of Citizens, 1951. “AUDF leader Ajmal should be arrested, because he is responsible for these ethnic clashes and it has spread across the country because of him. Our second demand is that the NRC 1951 be updated and the third is that Assam-Bangladesh border must be immediately sealed,” Kalita said. Violence between the Bodo tribals and Muslim communities, believed to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh , broke out on July 20, after unidentified men killed four Bodo youths. In retaliation, armed Bodos - who dominate Assam 's Kokrajhar and Chirang districts - attacked Muslims, suspecting them of being behind the deaths. In recent years, Hindu and Christian tribes have expressed strong anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment against settlers mostly from Bangladesh . The Bodos have fbeen demanding a separate homeland and after a 16-year armed struggle; they signed in 2003 a peace accord with New Delhi , giving them autonomy over the four districts. Assamese and the Bodos say that many of the Muslims are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh . The Muslims, who work for Bodos on their fields and construction sites or as rickshaw drivers, claim that they are Indian citizens and have voting rights. Earlier in 1993, Bodos attacked Muslims and other communities resulting in around 2,000 deaths and thousands being displaced.

Bajrang Dal calls for 12-hour bandh in Guwahati