“The first Chief Minister of Assam Gopith Bordoloi once prevented the State from being merged with East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), but a section is now conspiring hard to make it a part of greater Bangladesh”
AASU flays CM for rejecting Speaker's report, reiterates demand for constitutiol safeguards to indigenous people
BY OUR STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 2: Coming down heavily on Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for his government’s reluctance to accept the report on the Assamese definition prepared by the Assembly Speaker, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) on Thursday asked how dare the Chief Minister reject such an important report.
Talking to The Sentinel, AASU advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharjee said that non-acceptance of the Speaker’s report on the Assamese definition by the government indicates that a section is trying to include Assam in the map of greater Bangladesh. “The first Chief Minister of Assam Gopith Bordoloi once prevented the State from being merged with East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), but a section is now conspiring hard to make it a part of greater Bangladesh,” Bhattacharjee said.
“Since Independence, a section of Congress leaders have been doing politics for vote banks, which has made the problems afflicting the State more complicated over the years,” he added.
The AASU advisor said that the Speaker had played a historic role at the right time and in the right manner by placing a neutral report on the Assamese definition in the Assembly, but his report was rejected by the ruling party. “What has emboldened Tarun Gogoi to reject an important report like this? The people of Assam have now understood the real intentions of the Chief Minister,” the AASU advisor said.
Castigating the Chief Minister for “crossing all limits” by rejecting the Speaker’s report, Bhattacharjee fumed: “Gogoi always supports illegal Bangladeshis by putting aside the interests of the indigenous people of the State. Where is the difference between Badaruddin Ajmal and Tarun Gogoi?”
Interestingly, in the meeting between the Speaker and the representatives of 26 indigenous groups on the Assamese definition issue, Assam Accord Implementation Minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman was himself present representing the government. “Even the Assam Accord Implementation Minister welcomed the Speaker’s initiative in this regard. How can Tarun Gogoi reject the Speaker’s report when one of his ministers was present in that meeting?” he said. Bhattacharjee further said, “The Chief Minister always avoids the burning problems of Assam by passing frivolous comments and he has been doing it for the last 14 years. Why has his government failed to filize the Assamese definition in the last 14 years?”
The AASU advisor said that the Chief Minister should give a positive response to the Speaker’s report and send it to the Central government, so that Clause 6 of the Assam Accord be implemented fully by providing constitutiol safeguards to the indigenous people of the State.