More a betrayer less hero!

It was in 2005 when Sarbanabda Sonowal drew huge applause across Assam for getting IMD(T) Act scrapped by the Supreme Court. But the same person today contradicts what he told the same court more than  a decade ago as Assam Chief Minister.

This was more or less of what Upamanyu Hazarika said in New Delhi on Friday a day after the Sonowal government made its submission before the top court on the growing issue on the cut off year to detect and deport the illegal Bangladeshi supporters from Assam.

The convener of the Prabojon Virodhi Manch, an organization fighting against the alleged unabeted influx from across the Indo-Bangladesh border, thrashed the BJP -led central and state governments alleging that their submissions are quite different from what they said before coming to power.

“It sounds strange to have seen that Sonowal has contradicted the judgment which helped him steal the limelight. In 2005, he talked of an ubabeted influx from across the border which posed a serious threat to the indigenous people. But now his government says the political rights of the indigenous people are not affected by the immigration and for enabling the foreigners to vote,” said Hazarika.

He criticised the Sonowal and his government for the submission that there was no foundation to prove how many foreigners have enrolled their names in the electoral rolls where in 2005, as a community hero talked of large scale immigration of Bangladeshi nationals which he then called external aggression and internal disturbance.

Both Delhi and Dispur wanted  citizenship to all immigrants to avoid yet another strife as the Assam Accord with March 25, 1971 as cut off date was signed after a six year long agitation which nobody want afresh, said Hazarika.

Non stopped influx of immigrants from across the border is said to have been disrupting the state’s demography forcing the AASU to launch a six year long agitation from 1979 to 1985 which ended with the signing of the Assam Accord.

The agitators who later floated the regional Asom Gana Parishad was in power for two terms. But the main clause to detect and deport the immigrants progressed at a snail’s pace.

Now a number of organizations have moved the supreme court challenging the cut off date and a constitutional bench is hearing the plea from May 11.