STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Two divergent views were expressed by various members across party lines in the Assam Legislative Assembly on Friday regarding the sar areas of the state and their residents.
A section of ruling alliance MLAs opined that the sar areas on the Brahmaputra in Upper Assam are virtually free from criminal activities, while the sar areas of Lower Assam are rife with criminal activities.
On the other hand, members of the Opposition Congress, AIUDF and CPI said that the negative attitude adopted in general about the sar areas and their residents is not justified. They said that the government has not undertaken development activities as per requirement in the sar areas.
The issue was raised by the AIUDF's Aminul Islam through a pending Private Member's Resolution which sought setting up of a separate department to ensure overall development of the sar areas. Islam mentioned that no socio-economic survey has been carried out in the sar areas of the state since 2003. He stated there are around 2,300 notified sar villages in Assam, with a population of around 31 lakh people. He said that this huge population has been always neglected and looked upon with suspicion by the state government.
Participating in the discussion, the BJP's Rupjyoti Kurmi said that a marked difference is perceptible between the sars of Lower Assam and Upper Assam. Kurmi said that in general people hear about criminals being nabbed by the police from the sars of Lower Assam. It seems that some sars of Lower Assam have become dens of criminals, he said. He said that there should be a survey to ascertain what type of people is living in the sar areas.
On the other hand, Nurul Huda of the Congress said that the government should first clarify whether the residents of the sar areas are Indian nationals or not. If they are Indians, then they should be given facilities for development that are on par with their counterparts living in other areas of the state. Huda said that the problems of sar areas will never be resolved if the inhabitants are looked upon with suspicion all the time.
The BJP's Ganesh Limbu said that some sars are like havens of criminals, with a section of 'matambars' occupying huge tracts of sar land, settling new inhabitants and running their fiefdoms. These 'matambars' do not want education or development to reach the sar areas under their control.
The CPI's Manoranjan Talukdar said that the negative image of the sar area residents is not justified. He said that there are virtually no colleges in the permanent sars of the state. He mentioned that despite having a sizeable population, there is no bank branch in the Baghbor sar, as result of which the residents have to waste a day to undertake banking activity in Barpeta town. He said that while construction work is not possible in temporary sars, the government must undertake developmental work in sars which have been in existence for the last 30-40 years.
The AIUDF's Ashraful Hussain said that there has been a lot of politics regarding the residents of sar areas, but no one has worked for their development. He said that a survey is essential to bring out the true picture about the sar areas and their residents. He said that most people ignore the fact that many doctors, engineers, lawyers have emerged from the sar areas of Assam.
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