'Deprived' injured persons of Assam Agitation demand government action

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: A section of the former leaders of the Gana Sangram Parishad (GSP) and All Assam Students' Union (AASU) in the Lakhimpur district has demanded the Government of Assam to take action against a section of 'fake seriously injured persons' of the Assam Agitation (1979 - 1985), who received one time ex-gratia of Rs. 2,00,000 from the government by submitting 'fake' certificate. These leaders have also demanded the government to accord justice to those 'genuine seriously injured persons' of the Assam Agitation, who have been deprived of the due recognition and the ex-gratia payment sponsored by the Government of Assam. Notably, the Government of Assam gave one-time ex-gratia payment to Rs. 2,00,000 to each of a total of 192 seriously injured persons of the Assam Agitation (1979 - 1985) on December 10 on the occasion of the Swahid Divas in a ceremonial programme organized at Swahid Smarak Park, located at Paschim Boragaon in Guwahati. Out of them, a total of 37 persons of the Lakhimpur district also received the ex-gratia payment on that day. The former leaders of the GSP and AASU alleged that a section of person out of the 37 managed to receive the ex-gratia by submitting fake certificate of the seriously injured person.

In order to discuss over the issue, these former leaders of the GSP and AASU organized a meeting at Gana Bhavan, the Lakhimpur district office of Asom Gana Parishad, located in North Lakhimpur town, on Sunday. The meeting was chaired by Rudra Gogoi, former president of the Lakhimpur district (undivided) unit of AASU. While explaining the objective of the meeting, former AASU and GSP leader Deuti Das stated that a section of persons had managed to receive the recognition and ex-gratia payment from the Government of Assam by submitting fake certificate, without being injured in the Assam Agitation. During the course of the meeting, former Lakhimpur MLA-cum-AASU leader Utpal Dutta, former AASU leaders Binod Gogoi, Pradip Neog, Dhanmoni Hazarika, Deba Prashad Saikia, Kula Dutta, Prasanta Nath took part in the discussion over the issue.

As per resolution taken after the discussion, the meeting fixed a deadline of one month to the Government of Assam in order to take action against the section of 'fake seriously injured persons of the Assam Agitation'. The meeting also demanded the government to frame a modality to make list of the genuine seriously injured persons of the Assam Agitation and to accord them due recognition along with the ex-gratia payment.

In this connection, the meeting called upon the existing body of the AASU to launch an inquiry of its own into the matter and to identify the fake seriously injured persons who misled the organization.

The meeting decided to initiate legal action against the aforesaid section of fake seriously injured persons if the government did not take any action against them. By taking another resolution, the meeting constituted a convener committee with Deuti Das, Binod Gogoi, Dhanmoni Hazarika as chief conveners, lawyer Tirtha Das as the convener of the Legal Cell to take initiative to unite the deprived, genuine seriously injured persons of the Assam Agitation.

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