However, throughout the day, during the one-day session, opposition MLAs and the Chief Minister engaged in a heated discussion on the contentious topic of citizenship: the speeches and deliberations centred around the manner in which the Assam police have been forcibly detaining people in the state in late night operations, wrongly dubbing them as “foreigners” since May 24/25, 2025. Under state target have been especially Bengali-speaking Muslims who have been –without recourse to due process –expelled to no man’s land, many of them have subsequently even returned home.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Debabrata Saikia led the charge by moving a motion in the Legislative Assembly, prompting the Chief Minister to respond. Several opposition MLA then took the floor, voicing their concerns and perspectives on the issue. The chief minister Himanta Biswas Sarma attempted to project himself as a saviour of the Assamese speaking communities, pushing the blame on previous Congress governments. This angered several members of the Opposition who took him on, point by point, in detail. They pointed out that the first declaration of ‘D-Voter’ (Doubtful Voter) took place in 1997 when the government was ruled by Prafulla Mahanta of the AGP (Asom Gana Parishad). Sarma also gave incorrect information in the House that the practice of creation of D-Voters was begun during the time of Hiteswar Saikia (Former Congress chief minister of Assam, who is also father of Debabrata Saikia), but the fact is that Hiteswar Saikia was died on April 11, 1996 and the practice of D-voters was started from 1997.

Himanta also defended the moves saying that the “push” was taking place in accordance with the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Order, 1950 and a recent Supreme Court order. Incidentally, the Citizens for Justice and Peace has in memorandum to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) detailed how no procedures at all were followed by the authorities while they conducted the recent drives. These may be read here and here.

Meanwhile, the members of the opposition were vociferous in the tactics being employed by the authorities, urging that, any foreigners identified in the state, who have entered after 1971 (the cut-off date in Assam Accord) should be sent abroad (deported) according to provisions of law and procedure and any repatriation agreement with neighbouring countries, however the hounding and torture of poor, innocent Indians under the slur/label of being “Bangladeshi” must be stopped.

The entire speech of the LoP in the Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia is being reproduced here:

Monday, June 9, 2005

“We all know that Assam Movement was held to expel foreigners and after the Assam Accord of 1985, among all clauses, Clause 5 was very important. (This is) because it talks about the identification of foreigners and (the process to be followed) to expel foreigners from India.

And to carry this out smoothly, NRC updation process was undertaken on the base of 1951 NRC. And, finally, in the year 2013, SC directed (the Assam government) to update the NRC in Assam.  And finally we have the final draft of the NRC dated August 31, 2019.

On July 22, 2018, through a press conference, the then Home minister Rajnath Singh said that even after the final NRC, Foreigners Tribunal will detect the citizenship of people. He also said that any person’s name that has been dropped out from the final draft of NRC, (even) he or she can appeal. When the draft was published, it was seen that 19 lakh people were excluded from the NRC. At the time, Rajnath Singh also announced that a ‘Rejection slip’ will be provided to (ensure that people undergo process) to include their name in the NRC and if needed Goverment will provide the legal aid.

Later also, (with a change of guard) the Home Minister, Amit Shah said that all help will be provided to the people left out from the NRC and only foreigners tribunal will decide on the citizenship. No person should think themselves as outsider, until or unless Foreigners Tribunal take a decision on this, he had said.

The Supreme Court (SC) also declared that in the judgement of Abdul Kuddus that if any person was declared as foreigner he can approach the High Court or Supreme Court in appeal.

After the release of the final draft list of the NRC, government authorities announced that 200 Special tribunals would be set up. However, in October 2023, 3,34,964 cases were reportedly disposed off by the tribunals, 96,146 cases are still ongoing in the FTs. A total of 10, 3764 people were reportedly declared foreigners.

However after the release of the Final Draft of the NRC (August 31, 2019), the government did not provide the rejection slip to those excluded from the list. And it is these who are facing many challenges challenge due to not being enrolled in the NRC. They are facing problems of Aadhaar card exclusion and exclusion from government welfare schemes because “only citizens can avail welfare of the state.”

Recently the Assam Government has “pushed back” more than 100 people based –ostensibly– on a judgement of the SC. People were (simply) left in the No Man’s land. Almost 1200 people were sent, possibly 1000 people didn’t come back but those sent from Assam were taken back again (this was in the context of persons sent from Gujarat, Delhi, etc.)

The Union Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar had said, when Indians were repatriated from America or at other times, according to the rules and regulations, no one should be considered a foreigner until proven so. The suffering inflicted on Indian citizens in Assam by labelling them as foreigners has been highlighted in the recent declaration.

Therefore, we demand that, rejection slips should be given through the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process. And, through the legal process, foreigners should be identified and those who are Indians should be included. According to a report of CJP (Citizens for Justice and Peace), during the NRC process in 2019, around 60 people in Assam attempted suicide due to various fears and trauma. Among them, 32 were Hindus and the rest belonged to other religions.

One such tragic incident was of a highly educated individual from Kharupetia, who held MA, LLB, and BT degrees, and worked as a teacher. He was subjected to constant taunts and comments like ‘Look Bangladeshi has come’ while walking on the streets or at market, which led him to take his own life in 2018 due to extreme fear and anxiety.

Recently, Sonabhanu from Barpeta was left in no man’s land in May (2025) while her appeal was still pending in the Supreme Court. Additionally, 51-year-old Khairul Islam from Morigaon was declared a foreigner by the Foreigners Tribunal and the High Court, and he has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court.

There are many such people for whom the verdict has not been delivered yet they have become victim of the government’s moves. Besides, the statement that citizenship will be granted based on a particular religion to those who are Bangladeshi, under the Citizenship Amendment Act 2014, which was mentioned in 2019, has brought shame to many. This is evident from the suicide of Nirad Baran Das ((On October 20, 2918 tragedy struck Kharupetia town in Darrang district of Assam, when a retired school teacher and advocate Nirod Baran Das “took his life by hanging himself to a fan in his home.” CJP’s report had stated that Das had become “fearful and insecure of being arrested, wrested of his citizenship, declared a non-Indian, took his own life after hanging himself from a fan in his home”, claiming, NRC had declared him a foreigner even though “he was born and brought up in the town where he taught” and was in “possession of all the legacy documents.”))

.Therefore (we demand), that the process (of expelling foreigners) should be carried out as per the Assam Accord. The manner in which (Indians), who are “merely suspected” as D-Voters (Doubtful Voters), are declared foreigners by the Foreigners Tribunal, and later proved not to be foreigners in the High Court – this process needs to be more realistic so that people are not wrongly labelled as foreigners.

Other interventions by opposition members in the Assam legislative assembly on June 9:

• Jakir Hussain Sikdar, MLA from the Sarukhetri Assembly constituency, and Assam Pradesh Congress Working President said, “The government’s foreigner identification process is fundamentally flawed. Identifying individuals without sufficient information and evidence is entirely incorrect. The government’s misguided decisions are wrongly labelling Indian citizens as foreigners.”
• Nurul Huda, MLA, Indian National Congress (INC) from the Rupohihat Assembly constituency said that the unlawful targeting of ordinary Indian people as foreigners is unacceptable,’ he said, cautioning that continued police harassment without due process will undermine faith in the Indian judiciary.
• Ashraful Hussain, AIUDF MLA from Chenga Assembly constituency stated that the Foreigners Tribunals in Assam operate under the direct influence of the state government, with the Home Department dictating their actions. He expressed deep concern that selectively targeting indigenous people based on religion, language, and race would be utterly unfortunate.

In his replies to the Opposition members, chief minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that Government does not need to take NRC as reference for deportation of foreigners. He self-abrogated the powers to deport to the District Collector and myself, legally or illegally! He added, “We will further expedite the issue of foreign extradition in accordance with the Supreme Court’s judgment. All those who came after 1971 are foreigners.”

When the Opposition rebutted stating that many who were forcibly deported have returned, an unreptentant Himanta said, “”We have pushed back about 330 people, none of them have returned and there is no question of them coming back, and this push back will increase further.”  He added, “There are 35 more ready (to be sent): I will send them too (uses un-parliamentary language) “. He also mocked Congress for starting evictions, tribal belts and blocks, D-voters, detention camps, etc., and said that he is trying to do all these things now. He also claimed that like Prafulla Mahanta (former CM) who created D-Voters, he has garnered votes on the question of “expelling foreigners.” I on the other hand, am working for my ideology and that of my party (BJP) which is different. Sarma also made a rather outlandish claim, “Today the Deputy Speaker of Assam Assembly told me that I also have the power to review FT orders, so I will also make anyone who has been made Indian into a foreigner!.. “After Bimala Prasad Chaliha (Former CM of Assam), I am the only Chief Minister who has been able to make any foreign investments.”

At this point Akhil Gogoi Independent MLA from the Raijor Dol from the Sibsagar Assembly Constituency intervened, “It would be better if you spoke like a Chief Minister, please speak like a Chief Minister.” To which Sarma replied, “I want to speak like an Assamese.” He added, “I am the Chief Minister later, but I am an Assamese first. Whatever I say, I will say it like an Assamese, like a proud Assamese.”

Akhil Gogoi said, “You are not a proud Assamese, you are a Big Zero. In your day you could not send a single foreigner (out) legally, what you did you have sent illegally.” Himanta replied,”I will send legally and I will send illegally, yes I will send illegally. ”

Related:

Union Govt admits handover of Samsul Ali to BSF, Gauhati High Court grants family visitation rights if not yet deported

Does India have a lawfully established procedure on ‘deportation’, or are actions governed by Executive secrecy and overreach?

Assam: Academics, lawyers, activists condemn ‘push back’ of persons to Bangladesh

The post Assam: Stormy one day Assembly session, LoP Debabrata Saikia compels CM Himanta Sarma to respond appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On May 30, last Friday, late evening, Saikia released this letter in a social media post on Meta-Facebook. He wrote:

“BJP government has created a new conspiracy against minority society in the name of foreign deportation in Assam. Under the leadership of the new BJP Himanta Biswa Sharma, RSS is taking care to terrorize the Muslim society. Let foreigners be deported. This is what I want for sure. Assam is first for the people of Assam – this is my total belief. But I am totally against the “Muslim means Bangladeshi” ethnicity which has been created. India is famous as Assam Shankar-Ajan country. BJP is trying today to start a brotherhood conflict. That’s why hand-in-hand guns now. We want to see the books in the hands of our young Sam, not the grenades. They are trying to enforce the situation in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in Assam. The Chief Minister is now like a Sasemira, whoever does not ask, he says Pakistan in the answer. I am expressing all these things through two memorandum in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Home Department yesterday. Read it.”

The letter sent by Saikia may be read below.

Saikia has, in this communication, accused the Assam Police of violating constitutional rights and due process in these operations. The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has also petitioned the Governor, protesting the “continued” harassment of Indian Muslims on the pretext of identifying “illegal immigrants.”

Saikia claimed that since May 23, hundreds of Indian citizens, including some not involved in any citizenship-related legal proceedings, have been “arbitrarily detained.” While some have been released, these detentions highlight “serious procedural lapses.”

Citing media reports, Saikia alleged that several detainees, including women, were forcibly pushed into the “no man’s land” along the Indo-Bangladesh border, leaving them stateless as Bangladesh refuses to accept them. One such case involves Khairul Islam, a former government school teacher whose citizenship case is still pending before the Supreme Court, yet he was allegedly picked up from a detention centre and forced across the border.

Saikia emphasized that since several citizenship cases are pending before the apex court, these detentions and pushbacks constitute a “clear violation of the judicial process.” The Supreme Court itself has previously issued interim directions stating that no coercive steps should be taken against individuals whose cases are sub judice.

While most detainees were eventually released, their wrongful apprehension itself points to serious procedural lapses. Families remain uninformed about the whereabouts of detainees, violating basic transparency norms. Media reports confirm that many detainees, including women, have been forcibly pushed into the no-man’s-land at the India-Bangladesh border, leaving them stateless as Bangladesh refuses to accept them.

In this letter dated May 30 May Saikia highlighted several serious violations of constitutional rights and due process in what is being termed as Assam’s “push back drive.”

Saikia reminded the EAM that this action directly contradicts India’s stated position on deportation, quoting Dr. Jaishankar’s own parliamentary statement that emphasized the necessity of “unambiguous verification of nationality” before any repatriation. The letter notes with concern that these operations appear to target Muslim communities, undermining India’s secular fabric. It also points out that several cases are still pending before the Supreme Court, making these detentions and pushbacks a clear violation of the judicial process.

Saikia has urgently appealed for central intervention to immediately halt these unconstitutional actions, ensure proper nationality verification before any deportation, release all wrongly detained Indian citizens, and make detainee information publicly available.

He stressed that pushing people in the no-man’s-land without proper legal procedure is both illegal and fundamentally inhumane. Saikia said,“Pushing Indian citizens into no-man’s-land without verification is unconstitutional and fundamentally inhumane. The repatriation during the pendency of a Supreme Court case constitutes a grave breach of the judicial process. This further violates international human rights standards.”

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has been accused of late for aggressive hate speeches against minorities has been reported to have stated that the state is “duty-bound to protect the interests” of Assam and “expel all illegal immigrants from the state through any means and as per directions of the Supreme Court.”

The CM also claimed that persons with pending citizenship cases are not being detained. The state government has adopted a “push back” route as a solution to its long struggle for deporting “illegal migrants.”

Human rights organizations and affected families express deep concerns about the humanitarian consequences of these actions, including prolonged detention, family separation, and the risk of statelessness. The Supreme Court has also previously criticized the indefinite detention of declared “foreigners” and urged the state to expedite deportations.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that only declared foreigners are being pushed back as per the law.

However media reports, and an exclusive Ground Report by Citizens for Justice and Peace, suggests to the country. This may be read here.

First, a video has emerged in the ‘no man’s land’ along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam’s South Salmara Mankachar district, Where Khairul Islam’s claimed that he is an Indian national and being deported to Bangladesh. Islam was among nine persons arrested by Morigaon police on May 24 in a crackdown on illegal immigrants declared by the Foreigners’ Tribunal, but who had been avoiding deportation.

Himanto Biswas Sarma, Chief Minister, Assam, was reported to have said on May 30, “The Supreme Court has directed us declared foreign nationals must be sent back. Declared foreigners who did not appeal in the court we had been pushed back. On Thursday we apprehended 35 Bangladeshi nationals along the Meghalaya and Silchar border. They came some days back and we instantly pushed them back.”

He added, “In meeting with SPs in Dergaon we have decided that we will fast track the process of detection of foreigners. As the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process was underway, detection of foreigners was temporarily suspended. So in the days to come detection will take place, push back will be done and the government of India after talks with the Bangladesh government will send some foreigners. So these three ways will continue.”

Chief Minister said, “Whoever has not gone to higher judiciary despite being declared a foreigner, and not preferred appeal against the tribunal order, they must go. We have 30,000 people who despite being declared foreigners have disappeared, if we find somewhere we have to take action against them. Whatever is done is as per law.”

However ground level claims contradict what Sarma has stated. For example, Khairul Islam was declared a foreigner by the Foreigners Tribunal in 2016, a decision he challenged in the Gauhati High Court. The High Court upheld the FT’s ruling, leading to his detention in 2018. Documents reveal that the appeal against the FT decision is pending before the Supreme Court and the last hearing was in December 2024.

Related:

Assam Border Police cracks down on residents battling citizenship rights without due process, pushes 145 locals over the border?

The post Assam: Slamming Sarma’s actions as discriminatory & unlawful, LOP, Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia calls for an urgent stop to “pushback” of citizens appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The BJP led Government in Assam has removed Debabrata Saikia, the leader of the Assam Congress Legislature Party (ACLP), from the post of Leader of the Opposition in Assam Legislative Assembly on January 1, 2021. The decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was notified by a Gazette notification on the same day, but it came into the public domain allegedly only on January 4, that too after office hours!

The Assam Congress Legislature Party (ACLP) has strongly opposed the decision taken by the BJP government. Reacting the entire development, Debabrata Saikia said, “Whatever action has taken by BJP is nothing but murder of democracy. The decision neither has any justification nor it has any constitutional validity. ACLP will go the court, if the notification is not revoked. BJP is frightened of the popular support towards Congress. So, they are trying to malign us by unconstitutional and unprecedented action.”

It may be mentioned that, Debabrata Saikia, son of former Chief Minister of Assam Late Hiteswar Saikia, is strong voice against BJP in the present political context in Assam. He is the most popular leader of Assam Congress, for his people-oriented activities, relentless campaigns against anti-people policies of BJP government, and courageous actions against communal propaganda of BJP and its allied organisations. Due to uncompromising and courageous stand against BJP, Debabrata Saikia has become a thorn in the side of the BJP in Assam. But, the manner in which the BJP removed Saikia has revealed how spiteful the party can be.

Firstly, from the Gazette notification, it appears that decision was not taken following all constitutional norms. As per “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Assam Legislative Assembly”, it is stipulated that “Leader of the Opposition” means the Leader of the largest recognised party in the opposition and recognised as such by the Speaker. But the Gazette Notification of Government of Assam No: LLE 8/ 2016/ 883 dated January 1, 2021 says, “The present strength of Indian National Congress Legislature Party in Assam Legislative Assembly is not equal to the quorum fixed to constitute a sitting of the House, that is one-sixth of the total number of Members of the House as required under the aforementioned provisions and therefore, the Hon’ble Speaker, Assam Legislative Assembly, has been pleased to withdraw the recognition of Shri Debabrata Saikia, MLA, as Leader of the Opposition, Assam Legislative Assembly w.e.f. 1^st January, 2021.” Hence, question arises, whether the number of the Members of ACLP has fallen to less than one-sixth of the total number of the Members of Assam Legislative Assembly or not? Let us find out by taking a closer look at the numbers.

The Assam Arithmetic

In the 14^th Assam Legislative Assembly, the Congress won 26 out of a total 126 seats in 2016. Just after the election, one Congress MLA Mansing Rongpi resigned from the Assembly and re-elected as BJP MLA from Baithalangsho. Thus, number of Congress MLA reduced to 25 in the initial period itself. In 2019, another Congress Legislature Abdul Khaleque, got elected to Lok Sabha from Barpeta parliamentary constituency. The seat he vacated, Jania was later won by AIUDF.

After that, two veteran Congress MLA Pranab Gogoi, former Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly and Tarun Gogoi, former Chief Minister of Assam passed away, by-polls for their seats couldn’t be held. Another two Congress Legislators, Ajanta Neog and Rajdeep Gowala resigned a few days ago from state Assembly to join BJP. Thus, number of members of Congress party in Assam Legislative Assembly has now been reduced to 20. But at the same time, the strength of Assam Legislative Assembly has been reduced to 122 from 126.

Likewise, AGP Legislator Pabindra Deka and BPF Legislator Emanual Muchahary resigned from state Assembly to join AJP and BJP respectively. Another, BJP MLA who was elected to state Assembly in the bye-poll of Rangapara Constituency post parliamentary election in 2019, Rajen Borthakur too died recently. All these seats are lying vacant. Thus, the present strength of Assam Legislative Assembly is 119.

Now, the strength of Assam Congress Legislature Party is 20, which is enough number to prove one-sixth of the present strength of Assam Legislative Assembly. Thus, it proves that the initiative taken by BJP government just before 4 moths of State Legislative Assembly election is nothing but a political revenge against Congress and to diminish the image of Debabrata Saikia.

Assam Congress demands justice

Meanwhile, ACLP General Secretary Durga Bhumij, who is MLA from Doomdooma, strongly protested the removal of Debabrata Saikia as Leader of the Opposition. In a letter to Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly, he pointed out that in Chhattisgarh, BJP has only 14 MLAs in a 90-member House, where BJP Legislature party Leader Dharamlal Kaushik has been recognised as Leader of the Opposition. In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh State Assembly, SP has 48 Legislators, where SP leader Ram Gobind Choudhry is acting as Leader of the Opposition. In the 294-member State Assembly of West Bengal, Abdul Mannan of Congress has been recognised as Leader of the Opposition, though Congress has just 23 members there. In the 70-member State Assembly of national capital Delhi, BJP has only 8 MLAs but its leader, Rambir Singh Bidhuri has been recognised as Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly. The Congress MLA demanded to revoke the decision and to restore Debabrata Saikia as Leader of the opposition.

Congress MP Abdul Khaleque said, “BJP is undermining the constitutional provisions.” He further said, “Debabrata Saikia must be reinstated as Leader of the opposition in Assam Legislative Assembly.” AICC Secretary and former MLA Bhupen Borah on the other had said, “The decision to withdraw the status of Leader of the opposition from Debabrata Saikia is nothing but a pressure game of BJP. Congress will never compromise to any actions of BJP to diminish our constitutional values. People will treat them strongest lesson to such unconstitutional and immoral actions.”

Related:

Expelled Congress MLAs inducted in BJP in Assam

Resurgence of anti-CAA wave in Assam, BJP in denial?

Is the Opposition uniting against BJP in Assam?

The post BJP’s action “Murder of Democracy”: Debabrata Saikia appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In fresh developments in the case regarding a highly communal official letter written by a member of the Baksa Foreigners’ Tribunal to the Assam Health Minister, the Leader of the Opposition of the Assam Assembly has now written to the Assam Police Accountability Commission (APAC) demanding action.

Debabrata Saikia, in a letter addressed to chairman of the APAC Deba Kumar Nath, has referred to the letter dated April 7, 2020 by Baksa Foreigners’ Tribunal member Kamlesh Kumar Gupta to Assam Minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma offering donations collected from other FT members. This letter however stipulated that none of the funds be used for providing relief to people who contracted the virus at the Tablighi Jamaat event organized in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz in March. Gupta had used words like “jehadi” and “jahil” to describe such people in his letter.

The letter that gave details of donations made to the Assam Arogya Nidhi by various FT members from Baksa, Silchar, Morigaon, Kamrup, Barpeta and Karimganj, said, “Our only prayer is that the help may not be extended to the members of Violators Tablighi Jamaat, Jehadi and Jahil.”

Outraged by this blatant display of communal hate, on April 16, Abdul Khaleque, an MP from Assam’s Barpeta Lok Sabha Constituency, wrote to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal demanding Gupta be fired from his post as an FT member. In his letter Khaleque says, “By referring to member of one religious community (Muslims) as ‘Jehadi’ and ‘Jahil’ in writing that was widely circulated on Whatsapp and other media, the officer concerned has clearly stoked disharmony, ill-will, feelings of enmity and hatred between different communities, in the region and in the whole nation.”

Now, Saikia has raised concerns about the same FT member. But Siakia’s letter contains are request to address another pressing concern. Since April 21, a portion of an Assamese poem by noted writer-poet-playwright Syed Abdul Malik, had been quoted out of context and circulated widely on social media. Malik was not only a Padmashree awardee and former Member of Parliament, he was well known for bringing out the beauty of Assam’s composite culture in his works.

This blatant defamation of Malik and resulting vilification of Muslims needs to be nipped in the bud. Saikia urges that action be taken in this matter as well. In the latest development in this regard, multiple FIRs have been filed against a college teacher who uploaded the first three stanzas of the poem on social media dubbing them as ‘glorification of Mughals’.

Saikia’s complete letter may be read here:

Related:

Covid-19: Assam FT members donate to relief efforts, but stipulate funds not be used for ‘jehadis’
Assam MP asks CM to fire FT member who had called Muslims ‘Jehadi’ and ‘Jahil’

The post Take action against communal FT member, those defaming Syed Abdul Malik in Assam: Debabrata Saikia appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The post Modi misrepresenting historical facts: Debabrata Saikia appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Guwahati, January 9, 2020: The leader of the opposition and the Congress legislature party in Assam, Debabrata Saikia has dared BJP strongman and minister of state for finance and health,  Himanta Biswa Sharma to disclose the name of any person from the Congress fold who is a Bangladeshi national or of Bangladeshi origin. The statement of Debabrata Saikia comes hours after Himanta Biswa Sharma alleged that 90% of the Congress legislators in Assam are Bangladeshi! Himanta Biswa Sharma had made the allegations yesterday (January 8) while attending a BJP rally at Dhemaji in upper Assam. He is reported to have said, “Ninety % of the Congress legislature party in Assam is Bangladeshi. They may be citizens, but their forefathers came from Bangladesh. They are of Bangladesh origin. “

Taking strongest note of the false and fabricated statement of Sharma, Saikia added, “thesame people who have created a hue and cry around the existence of Bangladeshis in Assam, are today propagating that Congress has 90% ‘Bangladeshi’ MLAs in the state. Like “Ashathama hoto” he has also tried to salvage his own falsehood by explaining that “may be they are citizens but their forefathers have come from Bangladesh”. This is nothing short of a move to extricate himself from facing legal action. But, I have gone through his statement seriously. I have found that his statement is not only false and fabricated, but it is illegal in the eyes of the law. There are enough points to haul him up legally. We will not spare him for constantly resorting to such propaganda,” said Debabrata Saikia talking to SabrangIndia.

“There is no legislator from the Congress, who has any sort of relation with Bangladesh. Bangladesh was formed on March 25, 1971. Not even a single MLA nor their forefathers have come to Assam after the formation of Bangladesh. There maybe some Congress MLAs with forefathers from erstwhile East-Bengal who came to Assam from undivided India before 1947. They have migrated from one province to another within the same country which was then undivided India. No one can insult them or humiliate calling them “foreigners” nor by tagging them to a country which was born 50 or 100 years after their migration. I challenge Himanta Biswa Sharma to name and prove that any MLA from the Congress who is Bangladeshi or Bangladeshi origin.” Debabrata Saikia further said, “if Himanta Biswa Sharma fails to disclose any name of a Congress MLA who is either a Bangladeshi or Bangladesh origin, he owes an apology to the people of Assam. Or else, all Congress legislators will knock the door of judiciary to take legal action against these derogatory remarks of Himanta Biswa Sharma. ” 

Just two days ago, Himanta Biswa Sharma had even claimed that the AIUDF MLA, Ananta Kumar Mallo, belonging to the Badaruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF has come to Assam from Bangladesh after 1971”. On this, Debabrata Saikia said, “if Ananta Kumar Mallo has come to Assam after 1971, the speaker of Assam legislative Assembly must inquire and take necessary action in this regard.”

Related:

Will push CAB afresh, have new NRC: HemantaBiswaSarma
HimantaBiswaSarma: ‘Once CAB passed, detention camps will shut for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians’
Hindus are not foreigners in India, but Hindus are dying in Assam’s Detention Camps
Behind Shadows: Tales of Injustice from Assam’s Detention camps
Assam Detention Camps: At least 10 people released in compliance with SC order
Recently released detention camp survivor from Assam recalls his ordeal
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SubhrataDey died in an Assam Detention Camp: Now he can’t rest in peace
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Tripura Doctor Placed under Suspension for Opposing Citizenship Amendment Bill
‘Not Religiously Persecuted’: Amit Shah on Why Muslims Excluded from Citizenship Bill
Will push CAB afresh, have new NRC: HimantaBiswaSarma
National Register of Citizens: How the BJP is turning regional conflicts into national campaigns of hate

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