Dreams of Congress

While the protests against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act has entered its tenth week, a section of people opposing the Act are also beginning to dream of reaping political benefits out of the sentiments of the people of Assam. State leaders of the 135-year old Congress, rudderless at its national level, are dreaming of a situation in which the people of Assam will vote in its favour in the next Assam Assembly election because of the widespread opposition to the CAA. What these leaders do not realize is that the people know it very well that it was this party which has been all along supporting and encouraging illegal migration, be it from erstwhile East Pakistan or present-day Bangladesh. It was the Congress which had once thrived by keeping the illegal migrants under a situation of constant fear. It was Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru – he was from Congress – who had come down heavily on Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi, and then his two able and successors Bishnuram Medhi and Bimala Prasad Chaliha because the two had taken a bold stand against migrants. Both Medhi and Chaliha were also from the Congress. But then, like Bardoloi, they too were real patriots. There is enough documentary evidence about how Bardoloi had strongly opposed Nehru’s pressure to take in more migrants from the then newly-created East Pakistan. There are enough documents to show how the Congress government of Assam under Chaliha had expelled over 1.78 lakh East Pakistani illegal migrants. In the subsequent period however, two Chief Ministers not only failed to carry forward the tradition of courage and patriotism displayed and practised by their predecessors, but instead helped the illegal migrants in so many ways. Sarat Chandra Sinha had miserably failed to ensure that the refugees from East Pakistan were sent back after their country Bangladesh was liberated by the Indian Army. Hiteswar Saikia holds the unique record of withdrawing his statement made in the State Assembly about the presence of 30 lakh Bangladeshi infiltrators in Assam because the Jamiat had threatened to pull him down from office. The same Congress is living in a proverbial fool’s paradise that the people of Assam will vote for them. Yes, the people of Assam feel betrayed by the BJP. But then, that does not necessarily mean they will bring the Congress back.