Guwahati, Nov. 22: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today demanded the replacement of acting governor P.B. Acharya after his "India is for the Hindus" statement yesterday sparked off a controversy in the state, which is headed for elections next year.
"By saying that India is for Hindus, Acharya has broken the oath of maintaining the unity and integrity of the country, which he had taken in the name of the Constitution. Instead of working as constitutional head of the state, the governor is working as an RSS pracharak. In order to maintain unity and pace of development in the state, a new governor should be appointed. Otherwise he will work as a pracharak to help the BJP in next year's Assembly elections," an official statement said today, quoting Gogoi.
Acharya, a former RSS member, was appointed Nagaland governor soon after the Narendra Modi-led NDA came to power. He has been serving as acting governor of Assam since December.
Hours before Gogoi's demand for his replacement, Acharya, in a news conference at Raj Bhavan, clarified that he did not say "Hindustan is for Hindus" and blamed the media for "presenting a part" of his statement.
"What I said was that Hindus persecuted on religious lines anywhere have a right to stay in India and it is our duty to provide them shelter. But where they will be settled will be decided by the government of India," he said.
In a book release function yesterday, Acharya had reportedly said India is for the Hindus, while replying to a question on the ongoing update of the National Register for Citizens (NRC) and the controversy over the Centre's notification to allow persons belonging to the religious minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh fleeing persecution, to live in India without valid documents.
When asked where Muslims feeling persecuted in India would go, the governor said, "Indian Muslims are free to go where they want. Many of them have gone to Pakistan. If one wants to go to Pakistan or Bangladesh, he is free to go. But India is a large-hearted country and we have provided shelter to Persians too."
Acharya's clarification, however, did not pacify Gogoi, who said the governor took a "U-turn" in today's news conference after his statement invited sharp reactions from across the state.
"A broadminded person should be appointed the governor and I don't know why the Centre is not appointing a permanent governor," Gogoi said.
The chief minister had earlier hit out at the acting governor for statements over the migrants' issue.
The students' wing of the ruling Congress, NSUI, burnt an effigy of Acharya in front of the party's state headquarters here this evening.
Political observers here see the governor's controversial statements as part of the BJP's agenda to keep the Hindutva slogan floating ahead of the Assembly elections.
The Congress is in power for the third consecutive term but the BJP's surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections has come as a challenge to the ruling party.
NRC update: Acharya today said AASU leaders had complained to him that a vested interest group was trying to derail the ongoing NRC 1951 update process, as they wanted to keep the foreigner problem alive for political gains.
"Following AASU's concern I had a meeting with NRC state co-ordinator Prateek Hajela, who told me that the NRC office has received 68 lakh applications and documents of 3.5 crore people have to be verified by December 31. So I have requested the Assam government to relieve government officers from other official work for at least a month to allow them to concentrate on the NRC update process only," he said.
Following the Supreme Court order, the NRC 1951 is being updated to solve the state's migrant problem.
All those proving their presence in Assam on or before March 24, 1971, will be included in the updated NRC.
