NEW DELHI, May 8 — Emboldened by the Centre’s move to repeal the IMDT Act, Assam BJP today urged the Central leadership to reintroduce the Immigrants Expulsion Act, 1950 and the Foreigners Act 1946. The Union Cabinet while recommending the repeal of the controversial Act has proposed to replace it by Foreigner Act by providing that all pending cases in the IMDT Tribunals as well as fresh cases would be tried under Foreigners Act.
Meanwhile, the draft IMDT Bill is unlikely to be tabled in the current session of the Parliament as the Government legislation business formally came to end today. The draft Bill cleared by the Union Cabinet is now expected to be tabled in the Monsoon session. The BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman, Vijay Malhotra confirmed to newsmen that the draft IMDT Bill would not be tabled during the ongoing session.
As mentioned earlier, the draft Bill would in all probability be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee attached to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) soon after being tabled in the House. The Congress has already reiterated that it would oppose the passage of the Bill and is banking on its majority in the Rajya Sabha to have it defeated. The State BJP, meanwhile, mounted a direct attack on Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi charging him of failure to control the law and order situation in the State. A delegation of the State BJP that called on Deputy Prime Minister L K advani to thank the Central leadership for agreeing to scrap the controversial Act also drew the attention of the Centre to the deteriorating law and order situation in the State.
The delegation was led by State BJP president, Rajen Gohain included Union Minister of State for Water Resources, Bijoya Chakravarty, former Union Minister, Kabindra Purkayastha, Indramoni Bora, MP Dinesh Sarkar, Ranjit Dutta among others. In a bid to keep the pressure on the State government, the BJP demanded that if the Chief Minister cannot control the law and order situation in the State then he should resign. Charged Smt Chakravarty; if the Chief Minister himself admits that the situation was beyond control because of unavailability of security forces then he is playing right into the hands of the underground outfits. Such statements would create lawlessness, she added, reiterating that he should step down.
The State government has failed miserably to protect the life and property of the citizens. The recent killings of innocent people in Cachar and North Cachar Hill districts is a reflection of the deteriorating law and order situation in the State, the state BJP claimed. Even during the BJP Jana Jagaran Yatra miscreants while shouting pro-Pakistani slogans attacked one of the Raths at Goroimari in Kamrup district, injuring few of the party workers and damaging the Raths. The State Government failed to arrest the culprits. The centre should immediately intervene to see that such incidents are not repeated, they demanded.
They further complained that State Government has mis-utilised and misappropriated the funds allotted for welfare of the people. Only strict guidelines and verification of funds utilisation through Central government agencies and the involvement of the political parties can only ensure proper utilisation of funds,” they claimed. Later talking to newsmen, Sri Gohain said they complimented Sri Advani for deciding to scrap the IMDT Act. “We have urged him to ensure that the Bill for repealing the Act is passed by the Parliament,” he added.
Further, he said as the unemployment problem is root cause of all problems in the Region, the State BJP has urged the Deputy Prime Minister to direct recruitment of local youths through State Employment Exchange Bureaus by all Central Government Public Sector Undertakings. The BJP delegation further urged the Prime Minister to ensure the passage of the two Constitutional Amendment Act paving the way for creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
The party also reiterated its support to the demand of the Koch Rajbongshi community for inclusion of their community in the Schedule Tribe List. “Our party and the people of Assam want the inclusion of Koch Rajbongshi as ST through appropriate legislation,” the BJP said.