GUWAHATI, Aug 3 � Terming as weak Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's reported statement during his Bangladesh visit asking the Border Security Force (BSF) to exercise restraint and not open fire, the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) today said that such a stand would only encourage unabated infiltration in the porous Assam-Bangladesh border.
In a statement, the AASU said that it had been established that not just infiltrators but jehadi elements were also using the porous border to enter the State from Bangladesh. �The Home Minister's statement, coming at a time when unabated infiltration is posing a grave danger to the safety and integrity of Assam and India, is most unfortunate. It will only embolden further the infiltrators to enter Assam with greater vigour," it said.
Pointing out that it had all along been demanding complete sealing of the border with Bangladesh with shoot-at-sight order as in the case of the Indo-Pakistan border, the AASU said that even the Assam Accord clearly mentioned the need for deployment of all possible measures and steps for preventing entry of illegal foreigners through the Assam-Bangladesh border.
"While the worsening infiltration scenario warrants toughening of its stand by the Government of India, the Home Minister's statement would only serve to weaken the stand," it added.
Bemoaning that crucial provisions of the Assam Accord were yet to be implemented even after the lapse of 26 years, the AASU said that it was unpardonable that the 272-km Assam-Bangladesh border was still to be fenced totally.
