APCC hits back at Aowal, says BJP serves AIUDF’s interests

GUWAHATI, April 23: The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has said that it is the BJP which serves the political interests of the AIUDF, and that no MLA of the Congress in Assam is of Bangladeshi origin.

The APCC said this in a statement on Monday while reacting to State BJP spokesperson Muminul Aowal’s statement made on Sunday. In his statement, Aowal was on record saying that most of the Congress MLAs in Assam are of Bangladshi origin, and that they work as complementary to the AIUDF. This statement has been issued by APCC spokesperson Imdad Hussain.

“It’s the BJP, not the Congress, which works as complementary to the AIUDF. A tacit understanding between the BJP and the AIUDF led the latter to field candidates in LACs where it has no bases in the last Assembly election in the State. The people of Assam know all these. It’s for the AIUDF the Congress had to lose at least 35 LACs in the last Assembly election in the State. It has been proved beyond doubt that the BJP came to power in Assam only for the AIUDF,” Hussain said.

Reacting to Aowal’s statement on majority of Congress legislators in Assam being Bangladeshi origin, Hussain said: “This statement reeks of the BJP spokesperson’s lack of knowledge on the history of Assam. Bangladesh was formed in 1971. Infiltration of Muslims into Assam has its history dates back to decades and centuries. All those Muslim immigrants got blended into the socio-cultural life in Assam. They make an integral part in the formation of a greater Assamese society in the State. The BJP has tainted the entire Muslim community of Assam by branding them as Bangladeshi origin. The need of a certificate from the BJP doesn’t arise in Assam to ascertain who is of which origin. Infiltration into Assam has a remote history. Scholars and historians are there to make statement on such issues. Let Aowal make it public which root of Muslim he belongs to. He should also disclose which root Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Dey belongs to.”