Guwahati, Jan. 31: The Assam government will move the Centre against the Bajrang Dal?s plan to launch a survey for determining the number of Bangla-deshi migrants residing in the state.
The government?s official spokesman, Ripun Bora, said the Centre would be informed about the survey since the matter is sensitive. If the Centre?s response is not satisfactory, Dispur is prepared to initiate action against the illegal survey by the Bajrang Dal, he added.
?The influx of foreigners is not only Assam?s problem, but a national issue. The state government will first consult with New Delhi on the Dal?s proposed survey and the possible threat of an agitation,? said Bora. He said the Bajrang Dal has no base in the state and was only a ?paper tiger. If the Centre does not act, we will take action against the survey.?
Bora alleged that the Bajrang Dal was trying to incite communal tension in the state by raising the illegal migrants? issue. ?The situation in Assam is different from that of Gujarat where the Bajrang Dal can create communal havoc. The people of the state look at the foreigners? issue from a different angle. It does not have a religious tinge,? he said. ?We condemn and oppose such the Bajrang Dal move,? Bora said. No political party or organisation has the moral right to conduct such a survey, he added.
The All-Assam Students? Union, however, wants a clarification from the Bajrang Dal whether it was interested in pushing out only Muslim Bangladeshi migrants from Assam. AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya said the Centre and other organisations realised the problem late only after the ISI and al-Qaida have started infiltrating.
Sticking to the Assam Accord of 1985, Bhattacharyya said any Bangladeshi who entered Assam after 1971 is a foreigner and must be deported.