BJP’s work permit idea for B’deshis come under fire

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Guwahati, Dec 19: Political parties and student groups in Assam rejected demands by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for issuing work permits to Bangladeshi migrants who entered the country after March 25, 1971 and providing refugee status to Hindu infiltrators.

“The idea of issuing work permits to Bangladeshi migrants is simply absurd and we are not going to tolerate any such move. It would amount to encouraging more illegal Bangladeshis to enter India,” said Dilip Patgiri, adviser of the influential Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP).

Senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh told the Rajya Sabha that Bangladeshi migrants post-1971 should be given work permits and citizenship without the right to vote.

“The BJP’s stand is bizarre and nobody in Asom is going to buy their argument. There would be a mass protest if such a proposal was considered,” said Uddhab Barman, a Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M) legislator in Asom.

The Central Government has already fixed March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi migrants as part of the historic Assam Accord signed in 1985 to end a violent six-year-old anti-foreigners uprising in the State.

“Our stand is that the Government should detect and deport all Bangladeshis who entered the state after the cut-off date. No work permits and no citizenship demands could be even tolerated,” said Samujjal Bhattacharya, adviser to the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the group that spearheaded the anti-foreigners movement.

The BJP’s stand on granting refugee status to Hindu Bangladeshi infiltrators has also come under fire.

“The question of Hindu or Muslim Bangladeshi migrants simply does not arise. Be it Muslim or Hindu, illegal foreigners must leave the state,” Patgiri said.

The issue of illegal migrants has for long been a sensitive matter with political parties often blamed for using Bangladeshis during elections to further the vote bank politics.

“The State’s demography is under threat and political parties must desist from trying to make political gains out of the Bangladeshis,” the AASU leader warned.

India shares a 4,095 kilometre border with Bangladesh, with more than half lying along the north-eastern States.

Over 40 per cent of the border remains unfenced with concrete pillars separating the two countries. (IANS)

Assam Govt to oppose move for greater Nagaland: Gogoi

Guwahati (PTI): The Assam government will oppose any move for a greater Nagaland, state Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said Thursday.

Addressing a press conference here, Gogoi denied any knowledge of the reported claim of the Manipur (outer) MP that he had voted for the UPA government in the trust motion on the assurance that his demand for greater Nagaland, called "Nagalim", will be granted.

"I have no knowledge of this fact..the government is against any encroachment of the state's territory and the concept (of greater Nagaland)," he said.

Congratulating Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the "marvellous victory" (in the trust motion), the Chief Minister said this showed the people's confidence on the UPA government.

You represent India not China, BJP reminds CPI

June 15, 2008 20:11 IST
Bhartiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Sunday expressed concern over Communist Party of India general secretary A B Bardhan's remarks that the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal would make India a US outpost against China.

In a statement issued to the media on Sunday, Rajnath said: 'The CPI in its over-enthusiasm towards China seems to have forgotten that it is not a Chinese but an Indian political party. Ever since the idea of the nuclear deal has been mooted, the Left Front parties have consistently indicated that they are more concerned about protecting China's interests than our own national and strategic interests.''The BJP is the only political party that has opposed the proposed nuclear deal on pure nationalistic grounds. Playing the role of a constructive opposition party, the BJP has vociferously protested against certain provisions of the proposed deal that could jeopardize our long term strategic sovereignty and interests,' he said. 'Instead of properly addressing the nationalist concerns being raised by the BJP, the UPA government and its allies are consistently engaging in regular bouts of verbal boxing through the media and in the public domain without recognising the fact that such statements and public posturing could actually jeopardize our long term and strategic relations with both the United States and China. 'The Left parties are trying to politicize the issue in an attempt to regain their losing political relevance and mass support. However, in this process the Left parties are in reality thoroughly exposing their true colours and their cross border affiliations before the public,' he added.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/15ndeal.htm

No compromise on Silchar seat: Rajnath Singh (BJP president)

No compromise on Silchar seat: Rajnath Singh (BJP president)

AGP-BJP alliance depends on key seats NEW DELHI, June 14: AGP and BJP have taken a step forward towards an understanding in the coming Lok Sabha election. AGP Legislature Party (AGPLP) leader Chandra Mohan Patowary and Gunin Hazarika had an informal meeting with BJP’s national president Rajnath Singh at the latter’s residence in New Delhi today. BJP leader Sushma Swaraj was also present at the meeting.After an hour-long meeting that began at 10.30 am, the two AGP leaders told newsmen waiting outside that the meeting was cordial. Patowary said: “We came to New Delhi following an invitation from the national president of the BJP. The alliance between the two parties has not been finalized as yet. We need to meet more to sort out the issues.”The BJP president, on the other hand, said: “We have initiated preliminary talks for poll tie-up. We need to sit more. We want a pre-poll understanding with the AGP so as to oust the Congress.”According BJP sources, the two AGP leaders set somepreconditions. “However, Rajnath Singh has made them clear in no uncertain term that the BJP won’t compromise on Silchar, Karimganj, Guwahati, Nagaon and Tezpur Lok Sabha seats. The other seats in the State are, however, open for negotiation,” the sources said......more Source: sentinel assam http://borakvalley.blogspot.com/

AGP leaders talk alliance with BJP

AGP leaders talk alliance with BJP

NISHIT DHOLABHAI

New Delhi, June 14: AGP legislators Chandramohan Patowary and Padma Hazarika met BJP president Rajnath Singh here today, ostensibly to work out the modalities of an alliance between the parties.

“It was a courtesy call,” said Patowary after over an hour of talks with Singh.
The two legislators met other senior BJP leaders later in the evening. BJP sources were tight-lipped about what transpired in the meeting, but did not rule out an alliance with the regional party.

AGP is part of the United National Progressive Alliance, comprising the Samajwadi Party and other smaller parties who, only a couple of months ago, wanted a third front to counter the BJP and the Congress.

For the BJP, it is a step ahead in breaking the UNPA and adding strength in Assam where it has not been able to make a dent into the Congress strongholds.

At present, the AGP and BJP have only two MPs each in the Lok Sabha from Assam.
The meeting comes at a time when talks are on for AGP’s merger with the party’s splinter groups, including the AGP (Pragatisheel).

AGP(P) leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has been camping in the same building as the two AGP leaders, but was absent from the meeting with the BJP leader.

Sources said Mahanta had met BJP leaders a month ago for the same reason. “We are yet to finalise,” Mahanta said. Source: telegraphindia

Dispur calls in CBI

Guwahati, June 10: While an Assam minister was arrested last week trying to bribe a CBI officer, another seemed happy with Dispur’s decision to involve the central agency into an inquiry to prove his innocence.
Prodded by power minister Pradyut Bordoloi, Dispur has decided to hand over the case of a missing couple from Margherita — Prasanna Turung and Kamai Turung — to the CBI.

The Turung couple — both active NCP activists — have been missing since April 2007. While Prasanna was the NCP candidate from Margherita in the 2006 Assembly elections, his wife was the secretary of the state youth wing of the party.

The Nationalist Congress Party had recently alleged Bordoloi’s involvement in the incident.
Dismissing the charges levelled against him, Bordoloi today said, “I have no involvement in this case.”
“There will always be rivals in politics, but I will not stoop so low,” he said adding his activities have always been transparent.

The incident comes just a week after former education minister Ripun Bora was caught red-handed for offering a bribe of Rs 10 lakh to a CBI officer to hush up the Daniel Topno murder case.
The minister said chief minister Tarun Gogoi had informed him of the decision after he wrote to him on June 5 seeking a CBI or CID probe to clear the air about his alleged involvement in the missing case of the couple.
“I am also equally concerned about the couple,” he said.

Bordoloi said he had received a memorandum from the Tirap Autonomous District Council Demand Committee, Longtong, alleging that the duo were kidnapped from their house in the evening of April 8 last year.

A special police squad has been constituted to track them down but to no avail. Bordoloi said the squad had even gone to Changlang in Arunachal Pradesh and to Siliguri in West Bengal to search for the couple.
Two persons were also arrested in this connection.
“I also wrote a letter to both the director-general of police and superintendent of police on May 14, 2007, requesting investigation,” he added.

Dispur calls in CBI

Guwahati, June 10: While an Assam minister was arrested last week trying to bribe a CBI officer, another seemed happy with Dispur’s decision to involve the central agency into an inquiry to prove his innocence.
Prodded by power minister Pradyut Bordoloi, Dispur has decided to hand over the case of a missing couple from Margherita — Prasanna Turung and Kamai Turung — to the CBI.

The Turung couple — both active NCP activists — have been missing since April 2007. While Prasanna was the NCP candidate from Margherita in the 2006 Assembly elections, his wife was the secretary of the state youth wing of the party.

The Nationalist Congress Party had recently alleged Bordoloi’s involvement in the incident.
Dismissing the charges levelled against him, Bordoloi today said, “I have no involvement in this case.”
“There will always be rivals in politics, but I will not stoop so low,” he said adding his activities have always been transparent.

The incident comes just a week after former education minister Ripun Bora was caught red-handed for offering a bribe of Rs 10 lakh to a CBI officer to hush up the Daniel Topno murder case.
The minister said chief minister Tarun Gogoi had informed him of the decision after he wrote to him on June 5 seeking a CBI or CID probe to clear the air about his alleged involvement in the missing case of the couple.
“I am also equally concerned about the couple,” he said.

Bordoloi said he had received a memorandum from the Tirap Autonomous District Council Demand Committee, Longtong, alleging that the duo were kidnapped from their house in the evening of April 8 last year.

A special police squad has been constituted to track them down but to no avail. Bordoloi said the squad had even gone to Changlang in Arunachal Pradesh and to Siliguri in West Bengal to search for the couple.
Two persons were also arrested in this connection.
“I also wrote a letter to both the director-general of police and superintendent of police on May 14, 2007, requesting investigation,” he added.

Opp demands Gogoi’s resignation

By Our Correspondent GUWAHATI, June 4 –

The demand for Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s resignation over the arrest of State Education Minister Ripun Bora has intensified, with most of the major political and non-political parties today flaying the Chief Minister for giving shelter to the ‘corrupt’ minister in his ministry for the last many years. While the Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association has called a 24-hour Assam bandh on June 9 demanding that Bora be stripped off the membership of the State Assembly, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today moved the Governor, Lt General (rtd) Ajai Singh, urging the latter to recommend to the President of India the dismissal of the Congress-led State Government. The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) too joined the bandwagon and went on to demand a CBI inquiry into all the public allegations brought against the other ‘tainted’ faces of the State politics including Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain, State Government spokesperson and Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Water Resources Minister Bharat Narah and Member of Parliament Mani Kumar SubbaThe Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Ripun Bora, while he was allegedly offering Rs 10 lakh to a CBI official in connection with the murder case of Daniel Topno, in which he was also an accused. Talking to mediapersons at the party office, AGP president Brindaban Goswami termed the arrest of Bora as a ‘black day’ in the political history of the State.“The Chief Minister has no other alternative but to resign from his post owing moral responsibility as it was the State Government, which was against handing over the Daniel Topno murder case to the CBI,” Goswami stated, alleging that the State Government also managed to influence the preliminary investigation initiated in this regard by the local police. The regional party would launch a stir across the State tomorrow. “The incident involving Bora is just a tip of the iceberg and there are a number of cases of similar nature in the Gogoi ministry. The entire Gogoi ministry is flooded with corrupt public representatives,” the AGP leader claimed. “In fact, the role of Gogoi in all these cases is also doubtful,” Goswami pointed out.AASU advisor Dr Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya, during another press conference, reiterated that the arrest of Bora has once again brought to the fore the deplorable status of the Education Department, as claimed by the AASU for the last few years.“The Chief Minister should have quit his post immediately after the arrest of his cabinet colleague,” he stated.“The Chief Minister knew that the Education Minister was guilty, which was why he was against handing over the case to the CBI. Gogoi must face the music for giving shelter to a corrupt minister,” Dr Bhattacharya reiterated. The students’ body urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi to take immediate and strict constitutional steps against the Government for sheltering the tainted minister.“The businessman, identified as Ramesh K Maheswari, who was also arrested along with the minister, is the one who got the contract for supplying benches and desks to the schools in the State under ‘Adarsha Vidyalaya’ scheme of the State Government. This has posed a question mark over the businessman’s credibility and made it clear that large scale anomalies have been taking place in the Education Department since Ripun Bora took over the charge,” Dr Bhattacharya stated.AASU general secretary Tapan Kr Gogoi also demanded action against the CID official, who gave, clean chit to the minister after his probe.Meanwhile, the State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party and the Nationalist Congress Party staged dharna against corruption of the Gogoi Ministry at their respective party offices.The Assam Youth Student Union also condemned the incident and demanded strict measures against the culprits.The Sadou Asom Janasanskritik Parishad, the All India Students’ Association and the CPI (ML) also demanded that Bora be stripped off his membership of the State Assembly.Our Tezpur Correspondent adds: With State Education Minister Ripun Bora on centrestage in the aftermath of the bribery bid of Rs 10 lakh to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over a murder case, several organisations including intellectuals of historic town of Tezpur and citizens of Tezpur township described the incident as a major setback to the dignity and culture of the people of Sonitpur district.Talking to this correspondent, Assam Pradesh Youth Congress general secretary Sujit Sarma expressed grave concern over the issue and said arrest of State Education Minister Ripun Bora on charges of the abortive bribery bid has besmeared the image of the Congress.Meanwhile several organisation such as AGP, AGP(P), AASU, AASA and others torched effigy of Ripun Bora of various places across the district.

Ripun remanded to 3-day CBI custody

Ripun remanded to 3-day CBI custodyBy A Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, June 4 — A special Court at the Patiala House, Delhi, today remanded Ripun Bora and his associate, Ramesh Maheswari, a businessman, to the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for three days and his bail application will be heard only after the completion of the remand period. Ripun Bora, along with the businessman, were arrested in a hotel in the Mathura Road in New Delhi on charges of trying to offer a bribe of Rs ten lakh to a DSP of the CBI, who is the investigation officer of the case relating to murder of Daniel Topno in Dhekiajuli in September, 2000. The Chief Minister dropped Ripun Bora from his Cabinet immediately after his arrest and the State Governor accepted the recommendation of Gogoi for dropping Bora from the Ministry last night.Bora, along with his associate, were brought to the Patiala House Court by a team of CBI officials at around 10 am today but their advocates sought more time to file the bail petition as they were not informed of the charges on time. The accused were produced again at 12 noon and the CBI sought them in custody for three days for questioning. The Court remanded Bora and Maheswari to CBI custody for three days and the bail application will be heard only on June 7. The CBI informed the Court that Ripun Bora and Maheswari tried to offer a bribe of Rs ten lakh to DSP AD Gupta, who is investigating the murder of Daniel Topno. A part of the notes seized from Bora were withdrawn from the IDBI Bank branch in Guwahati, while, the bag, in which, the notes were taken, was also bought in Guwahati. However, Mukul Pathak, a journalist, who was arrested from the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi airport here by the CBI, was not produced in the court today.A team of advocates led by noted advocate IU Khan represented Bora and his associate in the Court today and they pleaded that the CBI did not follow the norms while arresting the accused. The CBI should have informed the Delhi police of the arrests immediately, which was not done.Interestingly, former Minister and advocate Nilamani Sen Deka was also present in the Court today.A number of media persons and photographers were present in the Court premises today and the CBI officials whisked Bora away immediately after the pronouncement of the order. However, Bora reportedly told the media persons that he was the victims of a political conspiracy.Meanwhile, the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who said yesterday that the law would take its own course, dropped Bora from the Ministry and refrained from making any comment on the issue today. However, he has not yet allotted the Education Portfolio to anyone.