CM ready to face Aasu on white paper

Accepting Aasu's challenge, chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday said he is ready for a face off with the students' body over the white paper on foreigners' issue. The chief minister added that he is ready to discuss the issue with any other organization.

On October 20, Gogoi released the white paper on influx which has always been the central poll plank of all political parties in every election. The white paper also happens to be the first-ever documentation of the problem by any state government. But it has drawn criticism from various sections of society.

Gogoi, who is in New Delhi now, said, "Aasu is talking about half truths in the white paper. I am asking them to show me these. The white paper contains facts and figures from government records and court orders." The chief minister even asked Aasu to publish its own separate white paper on the subject. "Aasu has every right to publish one and they can go to the people with it. If I have missed out on anything in the white paper, it should tell me specifically. I am open to discussion, not just with AASU alone, but others too."

Minority leader rejects white paper

Veteran minority leader Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury today dubbed Dispur’s white paper on foreigners’ issue as a ploy of the Congress party to divert the attention of the people from the real issue of updating the NRC 1951.

Choudhury, an advocate and former leader of All India United Democratic Front, today joined the Samajwadi Party.

“I do not think that there was any necessity of publishing the white paper, which has nothing but some facts and figures about the foreigners’ problem. The main issue is updating the NRC and the ruling Congress government has been delaying the process in its own interest. Now with the publication of the white paper, the Tarun Gogoi government has successfully diverted the attention of the people from the NRC update,” Choudhury told reporters soon after joining as president of the Assam unit of Samajwadi Party.

Choudhury’s allegation has assumed significance after the AASU termed the document as “half truth” or “white lie”.

Assam Govt's White paper on influx raises political storm

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.