AAMSU hints at snapping AGP ties

NEW DELHI, March 22: Peeved at the ruling Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) Government for betraying the cause of the minorities, the All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU) hinted at the possibility of opposing the regional party in the forthcoming Assembly polls. The AAMSU led by Samsul Hoque, its president, is believed to be among the strongest of the minority students bodies in the State and has a considerable sway among the community in the Brahmaputra valley. However, the students' organisation is nursing a grouse against the regional party for not keeping its word regarding the welfare of the minorities in the State. An AAMSU delegation which staged a demonstration in the capital demanding removal of the Assam Governor and restoring voting rights to those voters include it in the D List, was critical of the AGP for its stand on the controversial IMDT Act. The president of AAMSU said they had given tactic support to the regional party during the last Assembly elections by opposing the Congress Party. The students' body, however is equally critical of the Assam Congress, which it accused of checking the minorities for the past 50 years. The AAMSU leaders said this time they have kept their options open, and would consider supporting any political party only after going through their election manifesto. The organisation had supported the Congress twice in the elections of 1983 and 1985. Referring to their understanding with the AGP, Hoque said before the 1996 polls, the two had come to an understanding by which the regional party promised to rehabilitate the victims of the Kokrajhar massacre and who are presently living in relief camps. The AGP did nothing to rehabilitate the 20,000-odd people who are still living in the relief camps, he said. Meanwhile, the students were demanding reservation of seats in Parliament, Assembly and Zila Parishad and Panchayat elections as well as government jobs according to population pattern. Their demand assumes significance because of reports that the Census report may reveal that the percentage of population of Assamese people has shrinked further.