BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav has said if the Centre's decision to give refuge to persecuted minorities of Pakistan and Bangladesh is communalism, then it is happy to be called "communalist". "As regards the 2015 central government notification that offers refuge in India to persecuted minorities of Pakistan and Bangladesh, the stand of the government is that such minorities are not just Hindus but also Sikhs, Jains, Christians, Ahmadiyas etc. "If giving them refuge is communalism, we are happy to be called communalists," Madhav said on July 2 at an event to discuss the party's victory in Assam Assembly polls, "The Assam Triumph". [related-post] Watch Video: What's making news The government, last year, had decided on humanitarian consideration to exempt Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities who have entered India on or before December 31, 2014, in respect of their entry and stay in India without proper documents or after the expiry of relevant documents. He said borders in Assam will be sealed and constitutional steps will be taken to check infiltration. Infrastructure is a priority for the North-East, and in this direction, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has allocated Rs one lakh crore for building roads in the region, he said. "In last two yeas, the condition of roads in the North-East has improved tremendously," he said. Madhav said the North-East is a gateway to South-East Asia, a region that is of strategic importance to India and the Centre's 'Look East Policy'. "Assam has as many as five countries as neighbours and its development will contribute significantly to 'Look East Policy'," he said. By developing North-East and providing infrastructure to connect to South-East Asia, the potential for trade and connectivity will increase phenomenally, Madhav said. "This connectivity will transform North East India. Already, there is increased connectivity between India and Bangladesh, thanks to initiatives of the Narendra Modi government," he said. Talking about the problem of infiltrators, Madhav said by 2016-end, the government is committed to fence the entire Indo-Bangladesh border and implement joint patrolling by the two nations. BJP's victory in Assam polls has opened doors of the North-East for nationalist forces, which hitherto was unheard of. "Until now, the North East was inaccessible to nationalist forces but through the grand entry into Assam, access to the entire region is now possible," he said.
