AIUDF questions basis of Harishankar panel report

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Sept 20: The AIUDF has asked former Election Commissioner of India (ECI) Harishankar Brahma to spell out the very basis of, what it says, the former ECI’s interim report stating that 90 per cent of land is encroached by illegal foreigners in Assam.

In his interim report, Harishankar, as the chairman of the Committee for Protection of Land Rights for Indigenous people of Assam, has given a true picture of the problem of encroachment of land in Assam by illegal foreigners. The report, published on July 20, 2017, has also accommodated the opinions of various organizations of the State, besides the findings of the Committee. Harishankar Brahma himself visited the encroached areas in Assam and interacted with parties concerned so as to take stock of the situation of land encroachment in Assam.

Reacting to the interim report, AIUDF Legislature Party (AIUDFLP) Leader Hafis Basir Ahmed Kashimi questioned the very basis of the statement made by Harishankar. In a statement issued to the press on Wednesday, Kashimi questioned: “What’s the very basis of the Statement made by Harishankar Brahma that 90 of land in Assam has been encroached upon by illegal foreigners. Making such a statement at a time when the process of detection of foreigners is going on in Assam is strange. We want a just solution to the problem of foreigners in Assam through NRC update. However, the statement made by the Harishankar Brahma Committee is out to compound the NRC update process.”