The white paper on the foreigners' issue in the state has literally kicked off a political storm with opposition parties and All Assam Students' Union (Aasu) charging the government with playing down the "seriousness" of infiltration from Bangladesh.
With infiltration once again taking centrestage in the aftermath of clashes in Bodoland, the state government attempted to make its stand clear on the problem by projecting a "comprehensive" view on the issue. The document even attempted to project the genesis of the problem, its present status and possibilities in the future.
Asserting that the government is committed to detecting and deporting immigrants from Bangladesh, chief minister Tarun Gogoi emphasized that the state is facing more problems in health, education and unemployment. This stand, however, did not go down well with the opposition parties, especially BJP and Aasu. BJP said the state government rather attempted to play down the threat posed by unchecked infiltration to the identities of indigenous people in the state. The saffron party also questioned the government on the whereabouts of thousands of immigrants detected by tribunals.
"Thousands of Bangladeshis simply went missing even after they were identified as illegal immigrants. We want to ask the government the whereabouts of these," BJP national vice-president Bijoya Chakraborty had alleged.
AGP, which came to power after a six-year long anti-foreigners movement and signing of Assam Accord in 1985, said the party is closely scrutinizing the document as it has many loopholes. "We will come out with a report of our own on the drawbacks and loopholes contained in the white paper," said party publicity secretary Manoj Saikia.
The Aasu bluntly said the white paper was erroneous and lacked any action plan on stopping influx to the state. The students' body said the document did not project a correct picture of the problem of infiltration. The chief minister reacted to Aasu's remark saying the government has no intention to hide anything. "I am open to discussion. I will be too happy to receive valuable inputs and suggestions from individuals or organizations on the issue. They can send suggestions to my office directly," said Gogoi.
With infiltration once again taking centrestage in the aftermath of clashes in Bodoland, the state government attempted to make its stand clear on the problem by projecting a "comprehensive" view on the issue. The document even attempted to project the genesis of the problem, its present status and possibilities in the future.
Asserting that the government is committed to detecting and deporting immigrants from Bangladesh, chief minister Tarun Gogoi emphasized that the state is facing more problems in health, education and unemployment. This stand, however, did not go down well with the opposition parties, especially BJP and Aasu. BJP said the state government rather attempted to play down the threat posed by unchecked infiltration to the identities of indigenous people in the state. The saffron party also questioned the government on the whereabouts of thousands of immigrants detected by tribunals.
"Thousands of Bangladeshis simply went missing even after they were identified as illegal immigrants. We want to ask the government the whereabouts of these," BJP national vice-president Bijoya Chakraborty had alleged.
AGP, which came to power after a six-year long anti-foreigners movement and signing of Assam Accord in 1985, said the party is closely scrutinizing the document as it has many loopholes. "We will come out with a report of our own on the drawbacks and loopholes contained in the white paper," said party publicity secretary Manoj Saikia.
The Aasu bluntly said the white paper was erroneous and lacked any action plan on stopping influx to the state. The students' body said the document did not project a correct picture of the problem of infiltration. The chief minister reacted to Aasu's remark saying the government has no intention to hide anything. "I am open to discussion. I will be too happy to receive valuable inputs and suggestions from individuals or organizations on the issue. They can send suggestions to my office directly," said Gogoi.
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