New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) A delegation of the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), led by party president Lurinjyoti Gogoi, met Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, in the national capital to press for the urgent discussion of long-pending political issues central to Assam’s identity and history.
Speaking after the meeting, Gogoi said the delegation urged Rahul Gandhi to raise in Parliament the implementation of the Assam Accord, the execution of Clause 6, and the repeal of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
The party also pressed for the immediate update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), accusing both the state and central governments of “selective neglect” on the matter.
“Assam has already accepted immigrants from Bangladesh who came before March 31, 1971, on humanitarian grounds. Beyond that date, no more can be accepted. The rest must be taken away from Assam,” Gogoi asserted.
He said Rahul Gandhi expressed concern about the possibility of several lakh people being disenfranchised overnight and was briefed on the impact of unchecked immigration on the indigenous population.
On the CAA, Gogoi called it a “death knell” for the indigenous communities of Assam and the wider Northeast, and said the delegation had asked Rahul Gandhi to raise strong objections to it in the House.
The AJP team included Jagdish Bhuyan, Chittaranjan Basumatary, Kamalnayan Choudhury, and Jiaur Rahman.
From the Congress, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Gaurav Gogoi, Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi, and Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain were present during the discussions.
Gogoi also criticised the “BJP government’s focus on eviction drives”, alleging they were being projected as its biggest achievement while core political issues were ignored.
“Evictions are a routine legal process, not a guarantee for protecting the indigenous people,” he said, adding that the real safeguard lay in fully implementing the Assam Accord and Clause 6, and repealing the CAA.
He accused the government of using communal narratives around evictions to distract the public from Assam’s “fundamental political questions” and warned that “the state’s constitutional safeguards must be upheld without delay”.
–IANS
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