Hindu body urges upon CM to stop 'harassment' of Hindu Bengalis

From a correspondent

Silchar,  August 17: Hindu garik Suraksha Samiti (HNSS), central committee, submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi through the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar on monday. The Samiti urged upon him to take immediate steps in order to stop harassment of Hindu Bengalis branding them as ‘D’ voters. Most of them in the meantime have been sent to the detention camp and might even be pushed back across the border.

It was stated in the memorandum that the Hindu Bengalis presently residing in Assam and other parts of the country were forced to leave their hearths and homes in their tive land of Bangladesh, erstwhile East Pakistan, during partition. But for years, the state government has been eyeing them with suspicion. The Hindu Bengalis are being harassed by authorities and many of them have already been sent to detention camps for deportation.

The Samiti said that the Centre has provided protection to Hindu and Sikh migrants from West Pakistan in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan as well as Punjab by passing appropriate legal provisions in 2004. But no such legislation was passed for Hindu Bengalis residing in Assam and the state government is pelizing Hindu Bengalis by labeling them as ‘D’ voters. They have been even debarred from availing basic government facilities including BPL card, ration card, caste certificate among other government documents.

According to information, it has been learnt that around 2 lakh Hindu Bengalis in the state who have been listed as ‘D’ voters by the state authorities might face deportation. The Samiti members said that the dubious ‘D’ voter issue has become a matter of serious concern as it is being used particularly against the Bengali speaking Hindu community of the state. The members requested the Chief Minister to look into the issue and discuss it in a cabinet level meeting to take positive steps so that the Hindu Bengali linguistic minority residing in the state are not harassed and protected.

Prior to submitting the memorandum, Samiti members organized a protest demonstration before the statue of Khudiram Bose in Club Road area of the town. The memorandum was signed by Santanu ik, president, and Gopal Kanti Roy, general secretary of the Samiti.