The Pakistani flag that Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi denied ever came up at a village in Udalgiri district after it was burnt down has blown up in the state government’s face.
GUWAHATI: The Pakistani flag that Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi denied ever came up at a village in Udalgiri district after it was burnt down has blown up in the state government’s face.
Visuals of the incident were flashed on television and a Pakistani newspaper carried a report on how its flag was becoming a symbol of freedom in India. Everyone, including the Pakistani daily, says the green flag with the crescent and star was the Pakistani flag.
But Gogoi had said it was anything but a Pakistani flag.
If this is an indication of how bold the Bangladeshi elements have become, chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s response to the incident was indicative of the Congress government’s approach to the state’s worsening condition.
Instead of having the incident probed, he chose to deny it ever happened: since nothing happened, nothing needs to be done. If, as Guwahati High Court said, Bangladeshi infiltrators have become kingmakers, the chief minister is indeed paying heed to them.
All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu) adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya sees a nexus between illegal migrants and the Congress government. The infiltrators have moved to interior parts and become a serious threat to the indigenous tribal people, he says.
BJP’s organising secretary for the north-east, P Chandrashekhar, said the chief minister’s entire effort was aimed at diverting attention from the whole issue.
The growing sentiment against illegal immigration has led to social tension in Assam. But, unfortunately, any move against the illegal immigrants takes a communal colour. The Assam United Democratic Front, led by Badruddin Ajmal, said in a statement that it would not remain quiet if religious sentiments of minorities were hurt on the pretext of dealing with foreigners.
DNA had reported earlier that the immigrants have started mixing with locals and become more organised, assertive and aggressive, as witnessed in the recent clashes. According to BSF D-G AK Mitra, nearly 12 lakh Bangladeshis who entered India with valid papers, from 1972 to 2005, have disappeared. This is one of the few official figures.
Nearly 6 million illegal Bangladeshis reside in Assam, where they have turned five of the bordering districts into migrant majority areas.
s_rajesh@dnaindia.net
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