BJP will not allow Assam to become infiltrators’ hub again, says Amit Shah

Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday told AIUDF Chief Badruddin Ajmal sternly that BJP will not allow Assam to become a hub for infiltrators again after the saffron party had successfully freed the land encroached by them during the last five years.

Taking a swipe at Ajmal for claiming that the “lock and key (AIUDF symbol) of forming the next government in the state is in his hands, Shah said the people would decide who will run Assam.

“Kaan khol kar sunlo Ajmal, Assam ko ghuspetiyo ke adda phir se nahin banne denge (Ajmal listen carefully we will not allow Assam to become a hub for infiltrators again)”, Shah said while addressing an election rally at Bijni in Chirang district that comes under Bodoland Territorial Region. “Ajmal claims that the ‘lock and key’ of forming the next government is in his hands and he will decide who will form the next government in Assam, but he does not realise that the ‘taala aur chabi’ Assam ke janta ke haath mein hain (the lock and key is in the hands of the people of Assam)”, he said.

Shah accused Congress of failing to stop infiltration but “haame aur paanch saal de dijiye, aadmi toh kya parinde bhi ghus nahi sakenge (give us another five years, and we will ensure that what to talk about the infiltrators even birds cannot enter illegally)”. Former Congress Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had dismissed Ajmal saying ‘Who is Ajmal’ but now Rahul Gandhi says that the AIUDF is “Assam’s identity, but we will not allow this at any cost”, he said.

He also accused Gandhi, who is on a visit to the state to address election rallies Wednesday, of coming for tourism purpose and talking about Ajmal being Assam’s identity when it is Vaishnav saint Srimanta Sankardeva, Bharat Ratnas Gopinath Bordoloi and Bhupen Hazarika who represent Assam’s identity and the Congress and Ajmal will not be allowed to change this.

He claimed that it is the BJP’s double-engine government at the centre and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal which successfully ended violence and agitation in the state and took it forward on the path of development. “Five years ago, I as the party president had come to you and promised to make Assam free from violence and agitation and ensure development. “We have fulfiled our promises and give us another five years and we will make the state infiltrator-free and flood- free”, he said.

He accused Congress of not solving problem of insurgency, leading to the death of so many people, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi took initiative for signing of the Bodo Accord, paving the way for permanent peace in the state. “I assure everybody that clauses of the Accord will be fulfiled by 2022 and we have already done two-thirds of these,” he added. Shah is scheduled to address two more rallies at Hajo and Sonapur during the day.