Divisive agenda

If Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is to be believed, there are two categories of people in Assam — those who are on the side of the Congress and those against. He has now carried this divisive agenda to the extent of pointing fingers at the four eminent persons from the State conferred the Padma honours this year. The Chief Minister has chosen to publicly question ‘on what basis and on whose recommendation they have been so honoured’, and whether the powers-be at the Centre selected them ‘for abusing the Congress’. To buttress his claim, the CM has furnished a list of 28 persons recommended by his government for the Padma honours. He may have an issue that none of the persons in the State government’s list were selected. But was it dignified of him to belittle the contributions of those from Assam who did make it to the list of Padma awardees this year? Should a State government celebrate or denigrate a person receiving an award or honour by his perceived (rightly or wrongly) political orientation? The partisan intent behind making the official communication public comes through clearly — to create division and leave a taste of bitterness even in the matter of persons from the State being conferred the country’s highest civilian honours. By choosing to forget he is the elected leader representing an entire State, Tarun Gogoi risks looking less chief ministerial every passing day.