10 August :With the anti-foreigner campaign gaining momentum in the Northeast, particularly Assam, Union DONER minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has warned civil societiesand organizations from taking law into their hands. "We cannot undertake activities outside the purview of the law. One should act within the framework of the law," Aiyar told reporters in Shillong on Saturday.
He was responding to queries on the anti-foreigner campaign.Stating that the Congress government before and after the Prafulla Kumar Mahanta-led AGP regime had done ‘much better job’ to tackle the problem, Aiyar cautioned organizations against targeting indigenous Muslims in the exercise.
The minister also favoured improved economic ties with Bangladesh as a bid to resolve the issue and bring about rapid economic development in the Northeast.
"Trade relations with Bangladesh can develop only if the Central government adopts a foreign policy shift, but the impediments to the relation is the hostile stances against India by the neighbouring country in providing shelter to Indian innsurgents, Islamic fundamentalist groups and continued infiltration," he maintained.
The minister, however, added that India would reciprocate any positive gesture from Bangladesh.Meanwhile, the Garo Students Union has asked the Meghalaya government to initiate concrete and pragmatic check to check the alarming problem of influx.Highlighting that the unabated infiltration has posed a threat to the region, the GSU has threatened to launch an agitation if the government failed to respond.
AASU asks pre-1971 migrants to help drive out illegal B’deshis.All Assam Students Union (AASU) has urged migrants who arrived in the state before March 1971 to join hands with indigenous people in driving out infiltrators from Bangladesh who entered the state after the cut-off date.
"The positive support of the pre-1971 migrants would make deportation of illegal migrants from the state easier. The legalised migrants can easily identify in their respective areas those people who came to India post-1971. There should not be any linguistic or religious bias in this regard," the students’ organisation said in a statement.
The Assam Accord signed in 1985 between AASU the Centre had accepted 25th March 1971 as the cut-off date for legalising the migrants.The students’ body also appealed to all sections of the people not to engage infiltrators from Bangladesh in any domestic or commercial activities.Courtsey DDINEWS