GORESWAR, Feb 25 - A public tribute and an all-religion prayer meeting was held at the PWD IB premises here recently which was organised by the compensation demand committee of the Assam Movement martyrs.
In this connection, an open was held under the chairmanship of Arun Roy, president of the committee. The open meet was formally inaugurated by Sadhan Baishya, president, All Assam Bengali Jatiya Parishad. In his speech, he urged that compensation be also paid to the Hindu Bengalis who died during the Assam Movement. He also urged the Central and the State Governments to declare those who died in the Assam Movement as martyrs.
Attending the open meet as the chief guest, Bhabesh Kalita, MLA, Rangiya LAC received a memorandum from the committee and also declared that the people who had lost a family member and wealth during the movement, especially in 1983 under Khairabari and Goreswar revenue circles will get compensation soon. He said that he will discuss the matter with Chief Minister and will help to get the compensation.
Mission Ranjan Das, State vice president of BJP, who attended the open meet said that Hindu Bengalis should not panic in the name of foreigners. He spoke of the historical background of the Hindu Bengalis and assured that the BJP is working in favour of the victimised Hindu Bengalis. The BJP will consider the citizenship of Hindu Bengalis under the jurisdiction of the Indian Constitution.
Addressing the gathering, Maheswar Basumatary, EM, BTC in his speech said that Hindu Bengalis are only used as vote banks by political parties. �But their problems have not been addressed as yet. After 34 long years, they have to form a demand committee to get compensation. This is very shameful on the part of both the Governments � at the State as well as the Centre. The houses and properties of many were burnt in 1983. Many were killed. But till now they have not got any compensation and recognition. The time has arrived to be united and fight for justice,� he said.
Sahadev Das, advocate attending the meeting said that the Bengalis are also a part of the greater Assamese society. They read in Assamese and speak in Assamese even though they are neglected as foreigners by some Assamese people. They are called upon to prove their identity as Indians, put in detention camps, even though they have their names in the NRC of 1951 and the voters� list of 1965 and 1971. No Government has ever paid any attention to them,� he regretted.
Pathetic roads: The public of Baksa and Udalguri districts in BTAD, belonging to the two Legislative Assembly constituencies of Rangiya and Paneri LACs have expressed strong resentment over the pathetic condition of the Goreswar-Khairabari PWD road.
This vital PWD road which is also linked to Tangla town in Udalguri district has not been repaired for the last ten years inspite of repeated appeals by the public to the authorities concerned as well as to the PWD Minister including the two local BTC EMs of Goreswar and Bhergaon BTC constituencies respectively.
The road is now full of big potholes which make it totally non-motorable. The public have alleged that the BTC Government led by the BPF and the then Congress Government had failed to keep their promises to improve the condition of the PWD road and had turned a deaf ear to the reiterated demands of the public.
It may be noted that the present BJP Government and the local MLAs of Rangiya and Paneri LACs have also have not paid any attention to the appeals of commuters in this regard. Therefore, the public of the two districts have urged the authorities concerned as well as BTC EMs and local MLAs to start the repair work soon.