Buying trouble, Congress desperate to get clean chit

Rohingiya issue

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Sept 10: It seems that the Congress in Assam has bought trouble by raising the issue of giving shelter to Rihingiyas fleeing Myanmar. The Opposition party is clarifying its stand repeatedly but the desired chit continues to elude it.

The Congress raised the issue on the floor of the State Assembly on September 6 by moving an adjournment motion against the genocide of Rohingiyas in Myanmar. A section of Congress MLAs even staged a walkout when the chair refused to admit the motion. The Congress MLAs later staged a dhar at Dispur Last Gate where former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said: “Not only Muslims, Hindus are also killed in Myanmar. This is a violation of human rights. India should give shelter to those fleeing Myanmar in camps the way we give shelter to flood-affected people, for a stipulated time.”   

However, the issue taken up by the Congress kicked off a debate in the State which led Congress MLA and APCC spokesperson Abdul Khaleque clarify the party’s stand on Rohingiyas. He spelt out a roadmap for giving shelter to Rohingiyas on humanitarian ground. He is of the view that the Rohingiyas to be given shelter for a stipulated time should be issued identity cards. However, the debate on the issue refused to die down even today.

As though to get a clean chit on the issue, the Leader of Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly Debabrata Saikia had to reiterate the party’s stand on foreigners, without ming Rohingiyas, in a statement issued to the press on Sunday. In his statement, Saikia Said: “The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Assam wants implementation of the Assam Accord in its letter and spirit. The Congress doesn’t want anyone entering Assam after March 25, 1971 to be allowed to stay in the State or giving them citizenship, regardless of their faiths. All members of the CLP are unimous on this stand.”