Acharya sings Dispur tune on refugees

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, July 3: A day after senior minister Rakibul Hussain said the State government is in favour of granting citizenship to those refugees who had fled other countries out of fear of religious persecution, Governor PB Acharya endorsed the view saying it is the "duty of every government to give shelter to such refugees".

"We have been saying that all along. It is the duty of every government to provide shelter to refugees who had fled other countries due to religious persecution," Governor said, adding that many Hindus had fled Bangladesh after facing harrassment.

He, however, said the "burden of such refugees should not be borne only by Assam or any other State". "They should be sheltered at different places," he added.

The Governor, who invited an APCC delegation for a discussion in an apparent bid to placate the growing friction between Rajiv Bhavan and Raj Bhavan, also claimed that there was no "tussle" between him and the State government.

The 15-member APCC delegation was led by vice president Ripun Bora and former MP Dwijen Sarma.

The Governor reiterated that he had not said anything against the Congress during a programme at Silchar recently as claimed by the party. "I had asked them to bring the newspapers which quoted me as saying so. It could be that somebody misquoted me," the Governor said.

Later, former MP Dwijen Sarma said the APCC delegation told the Governor that if he indulges in "politics", the conflict will escalate.

"While we were having tea, the Governor told us that he was a member of the RSS. We immediately protested. We told him that at Raj Bhavan, he should work as a Governor. He should not mix politics and Raj Bhavan," Sarma claimed, adding that the APCC had video footage which proved that the Governor criticized the Congress at a public meeting.

Ripun Bora said that the Congress does not want a confrontation with Raj Bhavan.

"The Governor should be impartial. He should take up with the Centre issues concerning the State like continuation of special category status etc. He has assured to take up those issues," Bora said.