Masaldhari Chapori: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived inAssamyesterday (Jan 16, 2007) for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in thewake of a string of deadly separatist attacks that killed 61 Hindi-speakingmigrants.
 

 A Governmentspokesperson said the prime minister held a meeting at the MohanbariAirportin the eastern Assamdistrict of Dibrugarh with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and other top officials.
 

After the meeting, Manmohan Singh, who is in Assam on aday-long visit, is to arrive by helicopter here at Masaldhari Chapori, avillage in the worst affected Tinsukia district, about 560 km from Assam s maincity Guwahati.

 "The mainobjective of the prime minister s visit is to reassure and instil a sense ofconfidence among the Hindi-speaking people besides assessing the overallsituation," Gogoi told sources.
 

"The prime minister is expected to address a smallmeeting of Hindi-speaking workers in the area and interact with family membersof those killed," said Tinsukia District
 

Magistrate Absar Hazarika. Manmohan Singh will also visitSepon Chokolia in Dibrugarh district and meet migrant workers lodged inmakeshift shelters.

Some 700 Hindi-speaking workers are in government-run campsat Sepon Chokolia after being evacuated by authorities from their workplacesfor security reasons.

 Authorities blame theoutlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) for a string of attackstargeting Hindi-speaking migrant workers Jan 5 to 8 in parts of eastern Assam.
 

The orgy spread over four days left 73 people dead 61Hindi-speaking migrant workers, five policemen and two government officialskilled in a landmine blast, and five ULFA rebels shot dead in separate encounterswith security forces.

 Cradling anine-month-old baby girl, young Kiran Devi, who lost her husband Dinesh Das inone of the massacres, said "The Government should take stern steps tofinish off ULFA."
 

 Like Devi, elderlyRam Chandra Mahato was equally angry.

 "The militantsshould be killed without any mercy," shouted Mahato, who lost his son Ajayin a rebel raid earlier this month. For Pritam Yadav and his teenaged nephewwho works at brick kiln, fear still haunts them.
 

"We are still worried that ULFA might strikeagain," Yadav said.

The two are among some 1,500 Hindi-speaking workers stayingat one of the many relief camps in Tinsukia district. We hope the primeminister will announce more security for people like us. We don t want to leaveAssam.This is the place where we have been working for long and earning aliving," said Ram Naresh Singh, another camp inmate.
 

The Prime Minister is scheduled to address a news conferencein Dibrugarh before leaving for New Delhi later in the evening.