GUWAHATI, July 4 � Castigating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP Government at the Centre over their role in �subverting� issues of vital public interest for Assam and other north-eastern States, public activist Prof Deven Dutta today said that the BJP � by relaxing visa for Bangladeshi visitors, endorsing big dams in Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan, and approving the land-swap deal with Bangladesh � has made it clear that Assam�s interests were far from its priorities.
Asking the Assam BJP leaders to stop uttering irrelevant nonsense to protect its central leadership on these crucial issues, Prof Dutta said that Narendra Modi, Sushma Swaraj and Piyush Goyal � and not Sarbananda Sonowal and Bijoya Chakravarty � should formally and publicly reveal before the people of Assam what exactly transpired during these above-mentioned arrangements.
�The BJP, particularly Prime Minister Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Power Minister Piyush Goyal, owe it to the people of Assam to make public in clear and unambiguous terms the stand of the Government of India on these three issues. The BJP has absolutely no right to jeopardise the very survival of the people of Assam by making shocking compromises on the State�s interests while facilitating visa relaxation for Bangladeshis, while giving the go-ahead for big dams in Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan, and while approving the irrational land-swap deal,� Prof Dutta said.
Accusing the BJP of using the people of Assam as sacrificial pawns at the altar of power, Prof Dutta said that the BJP has made a total mockery of its poll promises concerning the burning problems of Assam once it acquired power.
�This is complete betrayal by the BJP. There is very little to differentiate between the BJP and the Congress, as both have traditionally maintained an indifferent attitude towards Assam and the North-east. Prime Minister Modi had been making a lot of noise about illegal infiltration from Bangladesh before the polls, but the matter was never raised during Sushma Swaraj�s recent visit to Bangladesh. In his bid to become a leader of South East Asia, Modi has chosen not to rub Bangladesh the wrong way even if it meant subjecting Assam to grave injustice,� he added.
Prof Dutta also asked all concerned to protest the �conspiracy� on the part of the BJP to light up North India and West India through the huge number of hydro-electricity projects sought to be implemented in Arunachal Pradesh.
�The fallout from this unsustainably massive intervention on the fragile Himalayan geology and ecology will be catastrophic for the North-east, especially Assam. Once the calamitous effects start to manifest, there will be no recovery for Assam,� he warned.
Stating that Assam was being pushed to the brink by the selfish concerns of the BJP, Prof Dutta said that it was high time the BJP MPs from the State left the party and stood by the people of the State in its hour of crisis.
