Congress encouraging divisive tendencies: BJP

Guwahati, November 2, 2018:

Condemning the killings of five people in Saikhowa by unidentified gunmen, the BJP in Assam on Friday slammed opposition Congress for its alleged brand of divisive politics.

Addressing a press conference, BJP state unit president Ranjit Dass said: “The Guru unites, while the disciples separate. This is a well-known fact that the BJP unites while the Congress divides. Since the last few months, the Congress has been trying to unsettle the peace of the state by raising emotional issues and forgoing logic and reason and encouraging divisive tendencies”.

He blamed certain provocative and insensitive speeches and statements of some persons and organisations, repeatedly aired by a section of the media, for the deaths of the five innocent Bengalis. This is an attempt to stall the journey of peace and progress, embarked on by the BJP, he said.

“Two days ago, I had the pleasure of attending a public meeting in the area and interacted with the local people. They were living very happily and were unaware of any Citizenship Act. The people of Bengali and Nepali origins, living in Saikhowa, educated themselves in Assamese and prided themselves as being proud Assamese of proud India,” Dass said.

He said the Assam unit of the BJP was the first to oppose the curtailing of five documents in filing claims for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) by the genuine Indian citizens.

“The BJP was described by the Congress as agents of the Bengali lobby. Fortunately, the honourable Supreme Court has struck down the demand of the NRC state coordinator to reject the five documents. The state government and the BJP took the lead in opposing the non-acceptance of the five documents. Assam BJP wholeheartedly welcomes the judgement of the apex court,” Dass said.

Meanwhile, the BJP appealed to all political parties and organisations not to raise any communally-sensitive issue till the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) submits its recommendations on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, to the Parliament. It also appealed to all communities to live in peace and harmony.