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The
death toll from ethnic unrest in India s northeast rose to 50 on Saturday while
at least 400,000 languished in relief camps as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
visited the conflict-hit area.
The
national government has dispatched medical teams to Assam to tend to the
victims of the fighting that erupted eight days ago between indigenous Bodo
tribes and Muslim settlers over long-running land disputes.
The
chief minister of far-flung Assam state, Tarun Gogoi, said the region was now
calm after what he called "unprecedented" violence as the focus
shifted to providing relief to the 400,000 people who fled their homes.
The
death toll climbed to 50 as police reported in a statement that the bodies of
five more people killed in the riots had been recovered.
Singh,
who represents Assam in the Indian parliament's upper house, was slated to tour
relief camps on Saturday accompanied by ruling Congress party chief Sonia
Gandhi.
The
chief minister described the violence as the worst crisis his government has
faced, with rival groups from both sides attacking villages, beating people to
death with sticks and burning down homes.
People
in the camps have said they were afraid of returning to their homes.
Gogoi
has blamed Singh s government for the escalation in violence, saying it failed
to send troops immediately after the unrest erupted.
Now
at least 3,000 extra soldiers and paramilitary personnel are patrolling the
region.
The
international rights group Human Rights Watch said tensions had been building
for more than two months between the Bodo and Muslim communities, which have
clashed in the past over access to land and resources.
The
group urged authorities to rescind the "shoot-on-sight" orders and
"promptly investigate and prosecute those responsible while addressing the
underlying causes of the clashes".
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