Take action against Mrinal Hazarika or else I will resign: Shiladitya Dev

Guwahati, October 26, 2018:

BJP’s Hojai MLA, Shiladitya Dev, said he would quit if the state government does not take any action against Mrinal Hazarika, who is a leader of the pro-talks faction of insurgent group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).

Recently, Hazarika had said if need be, the Assamese people should go back to the days of Assam Agitation and raid the houses of Bengalis and attack them. He made the controversial comment amidst widespread protests in the state against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which the Centre wants to pass to grant citizenship to the persecuted non-Muslim immigrants of Bangladesh besides Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“ULFA leaders like Mrinal Hazarika should not think they are extra-ordinary. He made a remark on the 1983 Nellie massacre. Does this mean he will start a fresh carnage? I want the government to take action against him. If it doesn’t, I will resign,” Dev said.

He condemned the statement and said a conspiracy was at work to trigger a riot between the Assamese and the Bengalis.

Coming down heavily on the ULFA pro-talks faction, he said, the insurgent group should clear its stand. If they are here for peace talks, then they should talk within the limits of the Constitution and not talk about violence, Dev categorically said.

On criticism of him for speaking up openly on the immigrants’ issue, he said he was not anti-Assamese but fighting for the community.

Earlier, Hazarika had asserted: “I want to warn Shiladitya Dev who has been working against the interests of Assamese community. He should refrain from doing so in the future”.