NEW DELHI, Dec 5 ? The need for change in the recruitment policy of the Railway in order to avoid future clashes between States, was overwhelmingly endorsed by Members in the Lok Sabha, with Members from Bihar urging Union Railway Minister Nitish Kumar to bifurcate Katihar Division from North East Frontier Railway and include it in Hazipur Zone. The growth of regionalism, particularly in Assam, was perceived as a serious threat to the unity and integrity of the nation. ?We have to check the menace of provincial chauvinism and protect federalism, which has engulfed Assam,? remarked Basudev Acharya of CPI-M initiating the discussion.
The role of All Assam Students Union (AASU) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra also came in for scrutiny, besides the action of the outlawed ULFA. The over-three-hour discussion on the recent incidents of violence in Assam and some parts of the country due to the recruitment policy of the Railways was by and large a smooth affair but for heated exchanges between Assam Congress and BJP Members over handling of the situation in the State. The discussion that remained inconclusive is likely to be resumed on Monday.
The discussion that was envisaged to keep its focus on the railway recruitment policy at times got offtrack with Members dwelling at length on the violence in Assam and Maharashtra and the attack on train passengers in Bihar. Few reported statements by Union Water Resources Minister Bijoya Chakravarty in Assam too became a subject of heated exchange between Congress Members Paban Singh Ghatowar, Bijoy Krishna Handique and Madhab Rajbongshi and BJP Member Rajen Gohain. The Congress Party fielded Ghatowar and Rajbongshi, while Gohain spoke on behalf of his party.
Controversial MP Pappu Yadav also sprang a surprise when he apologised for attacks on train passengers on behalf of his State. However, he maintained that he was not involved in the incidents though he conceded that passengers were looted. But a probe should be ordered to identify those responsible for attacks on passengers, he said, hinting at a possible conspiracy. A significant aspect of the discussion was also that Assam Congress MPs made a plea to the Government of India on its media policy vis-a-vis publication of statements and comments of banned militant outfits. The Government of India should consider this aspect as irresponsible statements made by militant leaders sitting in a safe country has wreaked havoc, Ghatowar contended. But the most interesting moment came when the State Congress president came to the defence of AASU and AJYCP, refuting the charges that they were engaged in fanning regional chauvinism.
At the outset, Speaker Manohar Joshi set the tone of the discussion by urging the Members to be cautious about what they say, so as to ensure that a message of unity goes out of Lok Sabha. ?The recent violence in Assam due to recruitment policy is a sensitive issue and needs to be discussed with objective,? he observed. Joshi, who chaired a meeting of the leaders of all politicl parties this morning, made it clear before the start of business that a message should go out that the House was one in condemning the violence. The integrity of a nation is more important and a resolution would be adopted after the discussion so that a message goes out that the entire country is one. It will also ensure that further violence is not created, he opined.
Making an emotional plea, Ghatowar asserted that one should rise above regionalism. Maintaining that Assamese were more Indian than anybody else, he remarked that the people should not be described as chauvinists. Asserting that the incidents should not be taken as a clash between 2 crore Assamese and 8 crore Biharis, he argued that one has to identify the people behind the incidents and their motives. Similarly, in Bihar those who indulged in the violence were not Biharis but it was the handiwork of anti-social elements and criminals, he added.
The APCC president also strongly defended the Assam government over handling of the situation listing out the measures taken to contain the violence. He further mentioned that Assamese people have been also coming to relief camps and taking back the people to their homes helping them in rehabilitation. Attempting to give a different spin to the incidents, BJP?s former State president blamed both the Assam and Bihar governments for failing to check the violence, besides maintaining that it was a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by ISI of Pakistan to settle illegal Bangladeshi migrants by forcibly evicting Biharis with the help of ULFA, whose leaders are well-ensconced in the neighbouring country.
Rajbongshi in his speech alleged that the Union Water Resources Minister had tried to incite violence by asking AASU to destroy NF Railway headquarters. She even questioned how Bihari people were given jobs in Assam Police, he charged. Those who participated in the discussion today included Prabhunath Singh, Ramjilal Suman, D P Yadav and Kirti Azad, all from Bihar, besides Mohan Rawle from Maharashtra.