GUWAHATI, Jan 2 - State BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass today alleged that the Congress, �Maoist� elements and the KMSS were involved in the violence that took place last month during the protests against the CAA, especially in the incidents that took place at Chabua.
He claimed that the violence witnessed during the protests was planned in advance.
He said preparations for setting fire to government offices, banks and the house of BJP�s local MLA Binod Hazarika at Chabua were on for three months prior to the incidents and added that the violence at Chabua had all the hallmarks of being planned by Maoist elements. Dass referred to locals narrating the presence of three-four trucks filled with liquor bottles which were distributed among the arsonists.
�Congress workers were involved, KMSS cadres were involved, Maoists were involved... At Chabua, our MLA�s house was set on fire. The treasury office, the post office, the municipality office and the railway station were set on fire. That could not have happened without any pre-plan. It was well planned out,� Dass said.
He added that there was also an attempt to carry out a similar attack on the Janata Bhawan here.
Dass said that some persons who allegedly indulged in violence at Chabua have already been nabbed, adding that the KMSS and the Maoist elements should be brought under the ambit of police investigation.
He said the BJP respects the right of organisations to protest peacefully, as is being done by the AASU and other regional and student outfits.
He said that amending the Citizenship Act was an old promise of the BJP. �Nobody said earlier that Assam should be excluded from the purview of the Act. No party or organisation gave any memorandum making such a demand earlier,� Dass said, adding that the party will abide by the Supreme Court�s verdict on the issue.
The State BJP chief said that the Sonowal government has taken steps to give land rights to the indigenous people, stopped rhino poaching in Kaziranga and tried to remove encroachments from sattra land.
�The Congress party gave land pattas to the people of the char areas of lower Assam. Why did they did not give pattas to people residing in the chaporis where indigenous people reside? ... Congress MLA Sherman Ali opposed the Land Policy in Assembly. But BJP is committed to providing land rights to the indigenous people. Even if somebody commits suicide inside the Assembly to oppose the Land Policy, then also the BJP will not back down on the issue,� said the ruling party leader.
He also requested anti-CAA agitationists to ensure that the economy and investment climate in Assam is not hampered due to the protests.
