GUWAHATI, July 21 ? The Assam Government is in favour of preparing a National Register of Citizens by taking March 25,1971 as the cut-off date. This was disclosed by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, while speaking on the admissibility of an Adjournment Motion moved by members of the AGP and BJP on the statement of the Union Minister of State for Home about presence of 50 lakh foreigners in Assam. The Chief Minister said that identity cards should be issued to all Indian citizens to settle the problem. He said that influx is a continuous process and ?we never said that there is no influx of foreigners to Assam.? But at the same time, he said that the statement of the Union Minister was not based on facts and pointed out that as per the census figures, the growth rate of population in Assam since 1971 was lower than the national average. He said that he has already written letters to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister in this regard. He also pointed out that the Election Commission is entrusted with the responsibility to prepare the voters list and it has termed two lakh voters as doubtful citizens.
Gogoi asserted that the State Government is committed to implement the Assam Accord. He said that the Government is also committed in detection and deportation of foreigners from Assam and pointed out that infiltrators should not be divided on the basis of religion. Earlier, moving the Motion, the leader of the AGP Legislature Party, Brindaban Goswami referred to the statement of the Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal about the presence of 50 lakh foreigners in Assam and said that the presence of foreigners posed a threat to the security of the country. He said that the statement of the Union Minister created confusion in the minds of the people of Assam and pointed out that in 1997, the then Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta had given a statement in the Parliament about the presence of foreigners in Assam. He said that the problem of influx of foreigners should be solved by implementing the Assam Accord and a National Register of Citizens should be prepared by taking March 25, 1971 as the cut off date. He said that identity cards should be issued to all Indian citizens and foreigners should not be divided on religious and linguistic lines. He also said that no organisation should be allowed to divide the Assamese society on the issue of influx of foreigners.
Bimalangshu Roy (BJP) said that photo identity cards should be issued to all genuine Indian citizens. ? A Minister of the Congress-led Government at the Centre issued the statement on the floor of the Parliament about presence of 50 lakh foreigners in Assam, but the State Government has already opposed the statement,? he pointed out. He said that the infiltration of foreigners posed a threat to the country and no one should politicise the issue for creating vote bank. Pabindra Deka (Ind) also supported the Motion and said that a policy must be evolved for a permanent solution to the problem of infiltration of foreigners. The Speaker Prithibi Majhi reserved his ruling on the Motion.
Landslide: Pabindra Deka (Ind) today expressed concern over the death of 14 persons in landslides in the city recently and said that Government must take immediate steps to prevent occurrence of such incidents in future. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the State Assembly today, Deka said that according to records available, as many as 126 persons were killed in landslides in the city in the last 20 years. He said that illegal cutting of the hills, deforestation and unauthorised construction on the hills around the city are the main reasons for such incidents and called upon the Government to take all possible steps for protection of the hills.