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| Slams LoP over SIR protests | | Says ‘opposition shielding infiltrators for vote bank’ | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 21: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the Election Commission of India has initiated the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to identify infiltrators, alleging that the Leader of the Opposition has launched protests against the exercise. Addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of the headquarters of the 10th Battalion of the Assam Police in Kamrup, Assam, Shah asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the courage and resolve to free the country from infiltrators.
He said the cooperation of state governments is crucial in removing infiltrators and claimed that such action would not be possible if opposition parties came to power. Alleging that infiltrators had become a “vote bank” for the opposition, Shah declared that once his party forms the government, infiltrators would be removed not only from the electoral rolls but from the country within five years.
Shah maintained that the SIR exercise would help identify illegal entrants and reiterated that the nation would be freed from infiltrators. Drawing a parallel with the government’s campaign against Left-wing extremism, he said that just as the country is being made free from Naxalism, Assam and the entire nation would also be freed from infiltrators.
He accused the opposition of allowing infiltrators to settle in Assam, alleging that this led to encroachment on fertile land and posed a threat to the identity and cultural heritage of the Assamese people. Shah said the opposition had harmed “Jati (community), Mati (land), and Bheti (cultural foundation).”
The Home Minister claimed that during the previous government’s tenure, infiltrators had encroached upon 174 bighas of land. He said the land had since been reclaimed under the leadership of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and that the current programme was being held on the same reclaimed land.
He further alleged that the encroachments had posed a serious threat to Guwahati, Assam, and national security, and had hindered the state’s development. According to Shah, unchecked infiltration during the earlier regime had adversely impacted Assam’s demographic balance, for which he held the opposition responsible.
Highlighting cultural initiatives, Shah said that during decades of opposition rule, the legacy of Assamese general Lachit Borphukan was largely overlooked, but today his valour is recognised across the country. He credited the Modi government with promoting Assam’s cultural heritage and honouring its luminaries with national awards.
He noted that the government conferred the Bharat Ratna on Bhupen Hazarika and Gopinath Bordoloi, and said several individuals from Assam have also been honoured with Padma awards in recent years. |
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