GUWAHATI, March 30 - All the major political parties are of the view that foreigners living in Assam should be detected and deported as per the provisions of the Assam Accord, but they have difference of opinion on the issue of providing shelter to the migrants who came to India after 1971 due to religious persecutions in their own countries.
The Assam Tribune tried to get the views of the major parties on the vexed problem of infiltration of foreigners. Although the parties blamed each other, they all are of the opinion that the Assam Accord should be implemented.
Replying to a question on the issue, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief Anjan Dutta said that the foreigners who came to Assam after March 25, 1971, should be detected and deported. He said that the Congress had always been supporting March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for detection of foreigners. But the leaders of the AGP, who were leaders of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) continued the movement before ultimately accepting the cut-off date. The delay led to the martyrdom of 800 people of Assam during the agitation, a number of Congress men were also killed.
Dutta said that no foreigner should get any political right in the State and care should be taken to ensure that no foreigner can include his or her name in the National Register of Citizens. At the same time, no Indian citizen should be left out, he added.
On the issue of providing shelter to post 1971 migrants, Dutta said that the Congress is in favour of providing shelter to those who came to India due to religious persecutions in their own countries irrespective of their religion. He also said that the entire country should take the burden of such people. He also pointed out that the NDA government issued a notification to provide shelter to such people without making any assessment of the number of people who came to India due to religious persecution.
The BJP�s chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal said that constitutional protection of the indigenous people under provisions of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord is a must to protect their political rights. He said that his party also supports the demand for reservation for indigenous people.
Sonowal said that if voted to power, the BJP would give top priority to updating the NRC. He pointed out that the process of identifying the foreigners would become easier once the process of updating the NRC is completed.
Sonowal, who is also the president of the State unit of the BJP, said that the entire country should take the burden of the migrants who came to India after 1971 due to religious persecutions in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has asserted that the stand of the party on the Assam Accord has not changed. He said that all the clauses of the Assam Accord should be implemented within a specific time frame. He said that constitutional safeguard should be provided to the Indigenous people.
However, he admitted that they have difference of opinion with the BJP on the issue of providing shelter to the migrants who entered Assam after 1971.
When asked as to why the AGP came to an electoral understanding with the BJP despite having serious difference with the party on such a major issue, Bora said, �The issue can be settled through discussions.�
The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) also asserted that the party is in favour of implementation of the Assam Accord. The foreigners should be detected and deported as per the provisions of the Assam Accord, said the spokesman of the party, Aminul Islam.
The AIUDF is not in favour of providing shelter to migrants who came to India after 1971 by violating the provisions of the law and Citizenship Act. Islam said that no one should try to disturb the social fabric and go against the laws of the land.
