GUWAHATI, Oct 5 - Questioning the rationale behind the exodus of student leaders of the Assamese nationalist camp to the BJP, public activist Prof Deven Dutta has said that the spurt in AASU and AJYCP leaders joining the saffron brigade makes one wonder whether it is the AASU, and not the ABVP, which is the student wing of the BJP.
Prof Dutta said in a statement that it is �shocking and shameful� that at a time when the State�s political spheres are passing through an extremely disturbing period with ominous and irreversible implications for the State�s indigenous people, so-called student leaders belonging to the composite Assamese nationalist camp are competing with one another in their haste to join the BJP in a bid to enjoy power.
�This goes to show that the so-called composite Assamese nationalist leaders are cheating the masses in their hunger for power, overriding the interests of the people and the State,� he said.
Prof Dutta also questioned why the AASU and the AJYCP did not show-cause the organisations� top leaders who joined the BJP very recently. �Instead of seeking an explanation from them why they were joining the BJP compromising in the process the regional interests, the AASU and the AJYCP chose to honour the deserters. It is only because of their greed to become MLAs that they did not deem it fit to make a public explanation behind their joining the BJP,� he said.
Prof Dutta also lambasted the student organisations of the State, saying that those were being manned by �old� people masquerading as students, and also questioned how those leaders could garner enormous property without having any proportional sources of income.
