GUWAHATI, July 5 - Strongly criticising the Union government for not initiating formal talks with the Government of Bangladesh on the issue of illegal migration in Assam, the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) today said that the Bangladeshi Minister�s statement on the issue has exposed apathy of the Union government towards the people of Assam.
During the eighth round of Indo-Bangladesh friendship dialogue in Guwahati, the neighbouring country�s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Md Sahariyar Alam had stated that the Government of India had never officially informed the Government of Bangladesh regarding the illegal infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals into Assam.
President in-charge of AJYCP Ranjan Upadhayay and general secretary Palash Changmai said the issue, for which the local people and many organisations have been fighting so long, has been ignored outright by the Government of India for so many years.
�The issue has been used in Assam as a political tool of the ruling parties to garner votes. Unfortunately, demeaning the prolonged Assam movement, all the political parties in Assam are also doing politics over the issue. The Bangladeshi Minister�s statement has yet again brought to light the hypocritical agenda of the political parties,� the AJYCP leaders said.
�Starting from Assam movement leader and former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta to the present Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, everyone used the issue of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh as an instrument to build their political careers,� the youth body further alleged.
Also criticising the present BJP government at the Centre, it stated that instead of taking up the matter of deportation of illegal foreigners, the government has chalked out a plan to provide citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis to suit its political agenda.
Questioning the effectiveness of the entire exercise of NRC update, it wondered how the State government would deport the illegal migrants detected during the update process in the absence of a proper treaty between the two countries.
�If a proper repatriation treaty is not in place, the neighbouring country would never take back its nationals who have infiltrated into Assam illegally,� the AJYCP added.
