The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah referring to illegal Bangladeshis in Assam as ‘termites’ recently at a meeting in Jaipur has not gone down well with the Bengali-speaking population of Barak Valley in Assam.
Realising the damage Amit Shah has done by allowing his tongue to run away with his mouth, the BJP Barak Valley Coordination Committee, under the Chairmanship of former Union Minister, Kabindra Purkayastha, called for a Press briefing late on Wednesday evening in Cachar.
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Purkayastha justified Shah’s statement by saying that by using the word ‘termites’, the BJP president referred to the Bangladeshi Muslims. “Amit Shah’s ‘termite’ references were not for the Bengali-speaking people (read Hindu Bangladeshis) but he was referring to the Bangladeshi Muslims who have entered Assam post-1971, albeit, illegally,” he said
Purkayastha further stated, “Amit Shah, and the stand of the BJP party, since ages, has been clear and we have committed ourselves in our resolution, both at the national and regional level, to get the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 passed for protecting the ‘minorities’ persecuted in our neighbouring countries.”
Referring to his recent visit to New Delhi, just a week back, Purkayastha said, “We (read he and his delegation) have met Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Prakash Javadekar, BJP National General Secretary, Ram Madhav, Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) Rajendra Agarwal, former and current in-charges of BJP in Assam, SS Ahluwalia and Arun Singh, respectively. I have also spoken to Amit Shah over phone to make our stand and points clear. All these leaders reiterated the commitment BJP has bestowed upon their voters.”
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He added, “Our visit was solely to discuss the two key issues of NRC and Citizenship Amendment Bill, and Rajnath Singh has assured us that the Citizenship Amendment Bill would be placed before the House in the forthcoming Winter Session. If everything goes right and the Opposition doesn’t disrupt Parliamentary proceedings, the Bill would be definitely placed before the House.”
Purkayastha also informed in the Press briefing that the JPC Chairman Rajendra Agarwal, had also assured them that they would come out with the report at the earliest.