BARPETA, Sept 14 � Regionalism is still relevant in Assam and it must be revived to solve the problems of the State.
The above was opined by veteran thinkers, politicians and leaders of several organisations in Barpeta today at a political convention organised by the Barpeta district committee of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).
The convention, held in the office of the district committee and conducted by former Rajya Sabha member Kumar Dipak Das, was addressed by veteran writer and academician and ex-president of Barpeta District Sahitya Sabha, Akshay Kumar Mishra, writer and professor of Baosi Banikanta Kakati College, Dr Ranjit Sabhapandit, retired Principal of BH College and an expert on the Assam Accord, Dr Ramen Das, president of AASU Barpeta district committee, Krishna Kanta Das and leader of Asom Sena Gobinda Gayan. Besides, Chakreswar Deka, Latifur Rahman, Bhupen Nath, Jel Hussain and Hasmat Ali also spoke a few words.
The speakers observed that national parties like the Congress or BJP have their own national agenda and are indifferent to the genuine problems of the small States like Assam. They also criticised the BJP for their deviation from the pre-poll commitment regarding land transfer and the aliens issues. It was observed that to solve the burning problems of the State, a strong regional force is a must and it can be possible only by strengthening the AGP . But they lamented that the leadership of the regional outfit has lost its public base due to confinement in the Ambari-based headquarter.
They opined that politics from Ambari is not viable in the present context and suggested establishment of stronger public relations in the days to come.
Another important suggestion by a number of speakers was the loss of confidence by the small ethnic groups of the State.
�If the AGP has to be strengthened, it must win the confidence of all the ethnic groups irrespective of caste, creed and religion and the leadership must pay attention to it�, they opined and added that open interaction to understand their problems can minimise the gap to a considerable extent. As regards the issue of illegal migrants, the primary factors behind the formation of the regional party 29 years back, it was suggested that people from the minority groups must be involved with confidence to detect the infiltrators from across the border.
Former Speaker of the State Assembly, Pulakesh Baruah and ex-MP Kumar Dipak Das acknowledged the valuable suggestions of the speakers and reiterated the relevance of regionalism in Assam .
Later, talking to this correspondent just after the convention, Chittaranjan Barman, secretary of the district committee informed that they will despatch a synopsis of today�s conference to the Central leadership for consideration. He expressed the hope that the Central committee will accept the views of the public of the district in the interest of the party and the State alike.
