GUWAHATI: On completion of 35 years of signing of the Assam Accord, the AASU (All Assam Students' Union) said that over the years the successive governments in the State and at the Centre failed to solve the problem of foreigners in Assam, and being tempted by Bangladeshi vote bank they betrayed the people of the State.
Paying tribute to the Assam Agitation martyrs on the completion of 35 years of the Assam Accord, AASU president Dipanko Kumar Nath said in a statement, "It was on August 15, 1985 the then Prime Minister announced the signing of the Assam Accord from Red Fort. After that, all parties welcomed the Accord in the Parliament.
"The Accord is a national commitment for a permanent solution to the problem of foreigners in Assam. However, over the past 35 years no government took it seriously."
AASU's general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, "In the past 35 years, detection of illegal foreigners in Assam has not been completed, detected foreigners have not been deported and foreigners' names have not been deleted from the voter list, let alone sealing of the India-Bangladesh border. The successive governments have also failed to provide constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people of the State as mentioned in Clause 6 of the Accord and tribal belts and blocks have not been protected as stated in Clause 10."
AASU's adviser-in-chief Samujjal Bhattacharya said, "The successive governments not solving the problem of foreigners in Assam over the past 35 years is an unpardonable crime. Our stance is as clear as daylight – all those, irrespective of Hindus or Muslims, who entered Assam after 1971 have to be detected and deported. We appeal to the Prime Minister to announce from Red Fort on August 15 a time-bound programme for the implementation of each and every clause of the Assam Accord."
Also Watch: #NewsMakers: Dr Dinesh Tyagi, CEO, CSC SPV With Oineetom Ojah