A Correspondent
Silchar: The cut-off year for entering India and thereafter staying without any documents has been extended to December 31, 2024. Stating this, Silchar MLA Dr Rajdeep Roy said the Union government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was committed to according citizenship to each and every eligible person who had been persecuted from the three neighbouring countries.
Speaking at the inaugural programme of the 50th anniversary of Barak Upatyaka Banga Sahitya Sammelon here on Sunday, Dr Roy admitted that only a few individuals had attained citizenship through the CAA, primarily due to a lack of publicity that could alleviate the fear of potential problems associated with applying. “The government will raise no question if the person is genuinely a persecuted one,” Roy underlined.
He further said the state government led by Himanta Biswa Sarma had unfailingly shown respect to the language martyrs of the Barak Valley who had sacrificed their lives in the 1961 language movement.
On the resentment of the BUBSS (Barak Upatyaka Banga Sahitya Sammelon) regarding not receiving financial assistance from the state government like in previous years, Roy said he, along with all the MLAs of the Barak Valley, would jointly approach the chief minister to facilitate a corpus fund for the premier organisation of the valley.
Barak Upatyaka Banga Sahitya Sammelon, which was established in 1977, stepped into its 50th year, and the year-long celebration was inaugurated on Sunday at Banga Bhawan. Eminent poet Mihir Kanti Deb, former chairman of the Tripura Education Council as well as the Tripura Pollution Control Board, was the chief guest in the inaugural function presided over by Satu Roy, the president of the BUBSS.
Satu Roy said the platform was formed in 1977 to preserve the linguistic and cultural identities of the Bengalis, but the BUBSS had always believed in fraternity with other linguistic communities. He asked all the elected representatives to raise their voices in the Assembly to ensure due recognition of the language martyrs.
Also Read: Silchar Assembly 2026: BJP Holds the Edge but Rajdeep Roy's Image Problem Hands Congress an Opening