DHEKIAJULI/TIHU, 29 Mar: The BJP government has stopped infiltration in Assam, but it is “not enough” and every illegal immigrant must be sent back, union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday, and asserted that a uniform civil code (UCC) will be implemented in the state.
He accused the Congress of trying to protect infiltrators, and alleged that when the party was in power, it kept the borders porous “in their greed for a vote bank,” thereby changing the state’s demography.
Addressing poll rallies in Sonitpur district’s Dhekiajuli and Tihu in Nalbari, he claimed that the Himanta Biswa Sarma government has “freed” 1.25 lakh acres of land that had been encroached upon by infiltrators.
In the next five years, he will ensure no land remains under their control, the former BJP chief said. Shah said that 10 years ago, the BJP had vowed to stop infiltration in Assam and kept that promise.
“However, this is not enough as we have to now send each illegal immigrant out of the country in the next five years,” he said.
In Tihu, Shah said a UCC will be implemented in the state in the coming days to “ban four marriages among a particular community.”
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier promised to implement UCC in the state if he became chief minister after the Assembly polls.
The state has already passed an anti-polygamy bill, making it an offence which may lead to a maximum of 10 years of imprisonment, barring some exceptions. Uttarakhand is the first state in the country to implement UCC.
At the poll rallies, Shah alleged that infiltrators had taken away the employment of the indigenous Assamese youths and seized the foodgrains of the poor.
He accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of opposing the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in several states to “protect infiltrators.”
“We will not let this happen,” Shah said.
The Election Commission of India is trying to weed out infiltrators from the electoral rolls, and the Congress is trying to stop it, Shah claimed.
“But the BJP government will detect each one of them, delete their names from the electoral rolls and deport them back to the country from where they came,” he asserted.
Shah accused Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi of “wanting to protect infiltrators” and asked him to clarify his stand on the issue.
“For years, the Congress kept borders open for infiltrators and, in their greed for a vote bank, changed the state’s demography,” he claimed, adding that infiltrators have reached different parts of the country from Assam and West Bengal over the years.
Shah said Assam CM Sarma prevented infiltrators from entering the state from across the border.
Polling to 126 Assembly constituencies in Assam will be held on 9 April. The counting of votes will be held on 4 May. (PTI)
