Assam alert over bandh call backing migrants

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today reiterated that all those who had left the Upper Assam districts following a campaign launched by an NGO, and allegedly backed by the BJP the and AASU, were not Bangladeshi migrants but “genuine” Indian citizens.

Gogoi has already directed the authorities in every district to take stern steps to prevent groups from organizing meetings and running campaigns to oust anybody in the name of pushing out suspected Bangladeshi migrants.

With the Congress government refusing to accept that infiltration by Bangladeshi migrants was a serious issue, district authorities have already turned down requests seeking permission to hold anti-migrant rallies in Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar and Golaghat over the past two days.

Over 2,000 persons had left the Upper Assam districts of Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Golaghat and Jorhat in the past two weeks after a local NGO asked people not to engage suspected Bangladeshi migrants in any kind of employment.

The government, however, has confirmed that not a single FIR has been lodged so far which alleges harassment of any kind.

Meanwhile, reacting to the state government’s move to prevent groups from carrying out awareness campaigns against Bangladeshi migrants, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) today alleged that the Congress was more interested in safeguarding the interests of the Bangladeshi infiltrators rather than saving Assamese people from being wiped out.

“The Congress government is more worried about their votes than the security of the nation,” claimed AASU president Sankar Prasad Roy.