New Delhi, Aug. 11: With an eye on the Assembly polls in Assam next year, the Narendra Modi government will hold tripartite talks with the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and state government this month in a bid to prevent infiltration from Bangladesh.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh said this at a national seminar organised by AASU here today. Rajnath said the government recognised the "sacrifice" of the over 8,000 people who have died fighting for a cause in Assam.
The home minister announced that he would visit the India-Bangladesh border in Assam this month after Independence Day and let AASU representatives accompany the government delegation. "We will also have a tripartite meeting and all steps required to stop infiltration will be taken," said Rajnath in the presence of a large number of AASU representatives. The tripartite meeting will discuss the "loopholes" in the Assam Accord signed by Rajiv Gandhi, the minister said.
Despite construction of fencing, there have been problems for the government because of riverine borders and the existence of population close to the border.
The Assam Accord was signed on August 15, 1985, after five years of deliberations first with Indira Gandhi and then Rajiv Gandhi. The main issue was danger from foreigners to Assamese identity. Clause 9 and its sub-clauses related to the government's commitment to build physical structures to guard the border with Bangladesh.
AASU has been pushing the Centre to implement all clauses of the Assam Accord. This implies that pressure will be on the government to "seal" the Bangla border. Of the 4,097km border with Bangla-desh, 263km is in Assam.
Rajnath's statement comes amid the exercise of updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, which is being done under supervision of the Supreme Court. No Indian shall be denied citizenship, the minister assured. His stand comes close on heels of the historic Indo-Bangla Land Boundary Agreement ratification by Parliament that sorted out the four-decade boundary issue with Bangladesh.
However, Bangladeshi influx, their deportation and prevention of infiltration will be an issue for the BJP in the state election next year. The Centre already has an action plan in place for guarding the border with Bangladesh.
In that, the AASU seminar was an opportunity for the BJP-led government to reach out to the Assamese voter.
Sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal said all clauses of the Assam Accord would be implemented and Delhi would strive to provide constitutional safeguards to Assam's indigenous population. Sonowal reminded AASU members that it was because of his participation in the un-ion that he was a minister today.
Dibrugarh University vice-chancellor A.K. Buragohain spoke on the sensitivity of protecting Assamese identity and how intricately it was woven with Indian identity.
