BARPETA July 26 � The Bharatitya Janata Party (BJP) has termed the Barpeta violence as unfortunate and has demanded commencement of updating of National Register of Citizens in all the districts and demanded that all the culprits involved in the carnage of the July 21 should be brought to book and arrested immediately.
Talking to newsmen on her arrival here for an on the spot assessment, the national vice president of the party and Member of Parliament Bijaya Chakraborty said that the incident that happened at Barpeta is very much untoward and it could have been avoided by the administration . �There may be some sort of misunderstanding among the common people but the vandalisation and destruction of public property by any one is not at all acceptable and at the same time killing of civilians by the security forces is also not tolerable�, Chakravorty said and added that peace and harmony must prevail in the State for the development of all.
Referring to the statement by the Chief Minister and some of his colleagues that there is some third party behind the incidents, she demanded that the Government should identify the third party and punish it. The third party reference by the Government is an evasive and instigational statement. She said and reiterated that the culprits should be arrested in no time. She emphasised that the work on the pilot project of the NRC should continue at any cost.
The forthcoming 14th August is the 25th anniversary of the historic Assam Accord and any kind of hurdle in the NRC preparation is not only a negligence toward this accord but also averse to the national interest�, she said and added that names of any person, whether Hindu or Muslim, coming to India on or before the cut off date of March 25, 1971 should be included there.
Terming the decision of the State government to suspend the NRC updating process as a very weak one, she and demanded that such a Government should resign from power. The party also demanded that the process should begin in all the districts of the State from August 15. She also demanded that all the land of the State encroached by the suspected Bangladeshi should be freed by the Government.
In a significant statement, the BJP leader said that though the district administration is responsible for the incidents to a great extent the removal of the Deputy Commissioner or the Superintendent of Police will not solve the problem.
Meanwhile, the opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has alleged that the State Government is directly responsible for the incidents in Barpeta and said that it is a vote bank politics of the Congress party. Addressing mediapersons in Barpeta on Saturday, after visiting several areas in the district including the residences of those killed in the police firing that day the leader of the opposition in the state assembly and the president of the party said that what happened in Barpeta Chandra Mohan Patowary was very unfortunate.
He alleged that as all parties and organisations in the State have expressed consensus as to the cut off date for the preparation of the National Register Citizens, it has become inevitable on the part of the Government to complete the process. But as the ruling party is apprehensive of vote banks it has adopted roundabout way to avoid the work. He warned the government to desist from vote bank politics and resume the works on the pilot project in the greater interest of the nation and condemned the announcement of the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to suspend the work on the project. At the same time he urged the Government to clarify all the anomalies that have arisen so that no genuine Indian citizen is left out for any mistake in the process.
The Opposition leader also requested all concerned to maintain peace and harmony and cooperate in the process of the preparation of the NRC. Patowary claimed that he had visited several areas in the district, talked to cross sections of the people and realised that everyone wants a smooth passage for the updating process.
