"Turning state into grazing land for foreigners": Assam Congress attacks BJP for extending CAA cut-off date

Guwahati (Assam) [India], September 5 (ANI): The Assam Pradesh Congress leadership lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) for carrying out an alleged "deep rooted conspiracy" to destroy the "existence of the Assamese people" by nullifying the Assam Accord after the Central government extended the dates for which persecuted religious minorities in neighbouring countries can stay in India.
Addressing a joint press conference at Rajiv Bhavan in Guwahati, Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia and former Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora strongly criticised the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led state government, and the BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), calling them "anti-national" for appeasement and vote bank politics.
"The BJP has no intention of stopping illegal infiltration. By extending the cut-off date under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act from December 31, 2014, to December 31, 2024, the government is providing yet another safe passage to foreigners, turning Assam into a grazing ground for outsiders. This proves that infiltration into Assam continues even today," Congress leader Ripun Bora said during the press conference.
Bora said that before becoming Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had promised in 2014 that all illegal migrants in Assam would be forced to leave the state.
"But instead of fulfilling that promise, the BJP has kept the issue alive only for political gains, sacrificing Assamese language, culture, and identity in the process," he said.
The Congress leader said that the extension of dates is a violation of the Constitution, the Supreme Court's rulings, and the Assam Accord.
He further demanded that the Assam government, led by the BJP, strongly oppose the implementation of this ordinance in the state and press the Centre to exclude Assam from its purview.
Questioning the BJP further, he said, "If the government could suddenly extend the cut-off period for CAA by ten years, what guarantee is there that it won't be extended further in future?"
Bora also clarified that Congress "remains uncompromisingly firm in its stand and demanded that the ordinance be scrapped in Assam."
Meanwhile, LoP in Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, described the September 1 notification as a "second version of CAA" and accused the BJP of launching a dangerous conspiracy to wipe out the identity of the Assamese people in the name of "one nation, one policy, and vote bank politics."
"But today, that very Accord signed by Rajiv Gandhi is being demolished, insulting the Assamese people," he said.
Saikia also accused the BJP of using Hindu Bangladeshis as pawns for electoral politics, citing contradictory stands taken by the party on withdrawal of cases against them and revealed shocking instances where allegedly Indian citizens from Assam had been sent to detention camps. (ANI)