Remarks distorted, says Acharya

HINDUSTAN FOR HINDUS

Congress renews attack, Gogoi demands Governor's removal

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, Nov 22: With his 'Hindustan is for Hindus' comment stoking a controversy, Governor PB Acharya today said his statement was "distorted" by the media which did not publish the "first part" of his remark.

As the Congress mounted an attack and questioned his right to continue in the constitutiol post, the Governor insisted that he never said "Hindustan is for Hindus."

"I had said that those who have come here (to India) because of religious persecution…we have to take them.  Otherwise where will they go?

"Hindus persecuted in other parts of the world have the right to come to India. It is our duty to receive them. It is in this regard that I said that Hindustan is for Hindus," the Governor told the media at Raj Bhavan here.

About the Muslims living in these countries, Acharya said, "The Muslims can go anywhere. They can go to Pakistan or to India, just like Taslima srin has come to settle in India."

Asked why Assam should take the burden of such refugees, he said, "There has to be a dialogue on the matter. I won't say anything now. The Central and the State government will see to it."

The Governor's purported statement on Saturday about "Hindustan is for Hindus" had stirred a controversy in the backdrop of the Centre's recent notification to allow religious minorities from neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh, fleeing persecution in those countries, to settle in India.

Describing Acharya as an RSS pracharak, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi asked the Central government to remove him from the post to "ensure that unity in the State is not disturbed."

"He has broken his oath of office. He has lowered the dignity of his position. He has no right to continue in the chair," Gogoi fumed.

The Chief Minister also wondered as to why the Central government has not yet appointed a full-fledged Governor in Assam.

The Congress Party also alleged that the Assam Governor's remark indicates the ideology and thinking of the BJP and the RSS.  "It is not at all surprising that a statement has come from no less than a constitutiol functiory, a Governor, which is clearly indicative of the way the RSS and the BJP functiories think and continue to think even after assuming a constitutiol post," Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi told the media in Delhi.

The Congress leader further said it seems the Governor has forgotten that he is holding a constitutiol post.