GUWAHATI, Nov 2 � Opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today dared Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhubaneswar Kalita to direct his MPs and MLAs to become vocal against the mega-dam hydel power projects in the Parliament as well as in the State Assembly and to compel the Central Government abandon the mega-dam projects.
Reacting to the news reports that the APCC under the stewardship of Kalita has opposed the mega-dam hydel power projects in a meeting of the APCC leaders and district Congress office-bearers, AGP president Chandra Mohan Patowary dared the APCC president to prove the veracity of his anti mega-dam stance.
The Central leaders of the Congress are for the mega-dam projects and they are not paying any heed to the ongoing anti mega-dam agitation in the State. Even the Congress-led State Government is also making a mockery of this agitation standing by the mega-dam projects.
During the past 63 years, the Congress has been deceiving the people of Assam and this time also it has been taking a deceitful stand on the issue of the mega-dam projects. While its central leaders are taking a pro-mega-dam stance, the State Congress is vouching an anti mega-dam posture. This is despite the fact that the State Government led by the party has also been siding openly with the mega-dam projects, said the AGP president.
Past experiences show that the issue of protecting the interest of the Nehru Gandhi family is of prime importance for the Congress. Therefore, the reported anti mega-dam posture of the APCC president evokes doubt that it is nothing but a 'diabolic drama' to deceive the people of the State.
To prove the genuineness of his stance, Kalita should lend support to the AGP proposal against the mega-dam projects in the Parliament in its next session, speaking against such projects openly in presence of Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh.
Moreover, Kalita should direct his party MLAs, including the Chief Minister, to oppose the mega-dam projects in the coming session of the State Assembly and also to move a resolution in this regard, to prove the credibility of the reports of his anti mega-dam stance, said the AGP president.
Sanmilita Mahasangha: The Asom Sanmilita Mahasangha has warned that it would move the national and international courts on the issue of mega-dam hydel power projects. For, it said in a statement here that the charter of the United Nations (UN) for indigenous peoples has made consent of the indigenous peoples mandatory for any hydroelectric power project.
The ownership right of water resources is vested with the indigenous peoples by the UN charter. In case the Government applies force to snatch this right of the indigenous peoples away, it amounts to a grave crime.
