Reacting to assertions made by Assam Finance Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, the leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Debabrata Saikia said in a statement that Sarma was playing a dangerous game by wading knee-deep in the ugly politics of polarisation and jingoism.
“I believe that the people of Assam and people of India as a whole will see through the motivated posturing of cynical leaders like Sarma and his soul-mates of the BJP,” Saikia said.
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Sarma at a rally in Kampur on Sunday said that Pakistan’s armed forces would attack Parliament and the Assam Legislative Assembly in case Narendra Modi is not re-elected in the ensuing general elections.
Saikia said that Sarma’s assertions are marked by misinterpretation and nefarious motive.
“In so far as armed attacks on Indian soil are concerned, I must point out that as against one Mumbai terror attack during the UPA’s tenure, the BJP-led NDA’s tenures at the Centre witnessed the Kandahar plane hijack incident, the attack on Akshardham temple, the attack on Raghunath temple, the Kargil incursion, the attack on Parliament House, the attack on Amarnath yatris, the Pathankot attack, the Uri attack and now the Pulwama attack. Any neutral observer will unhesitatingly opine that the weakness of successive NDA governments resulted in so many terrorist attacks on Indian soil. Therefore, Dr. Sarma’s claim that only Mr. Modi can safeguard important Indian institutions from Pakistan is nothing but brazen propaganda which is not borne out by facts,” Saikia said.
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Saikia further said that Sarma had also equated the case of Sarabjit Singh with that of Wing Commander Abhinandan.
“This is either ignorance or a deliberate attempt to mislead people. Wing Commander Abhinandan is an officer of the armed forces of a sovereign country and, as such, the treatment he is supposed to receive at the hands of an enemy country in the event of capture is governed by the Geneva Convention. On the other hand, Sarabjit Singh was arrested by the Pakistani authorities on the charge of spying,” said the statement by Saikia.
“Although the allegation was patently false, any government which respects international norms in such matters will naturally have its hands tied. If things are so easy, then why has the chest-thumping Modi government failed to secure the release of Kulbhushan Yadav, who is rotting in a Pakistani jail even now?” The statement further said.