Himanta Biswa Sarma’s ‘patriotism’ a ‘political game’: Debabrata Saikia

Guwahati, March 5, 2019:

Assam's leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia alleged the Finance Minister Himanra Biswa Sarma is playing a dangerous political game of polarization and patriotism and said people of the state and country will see through the motivated posturing of leaders like Sarma and his BJP allies.

Debabrata Saikia in a release said, “Himanta Biswa Sarma, who holds multiple important portfolios in the Assam Cabinet, stated at a rally in Kampur yesterday 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. Sarma further draws parallels between the fates of Sarabjit Singh and Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.”

Slaming Sarma’s claim that only Modi can safeguard the important Indian institutions from Pakistan as nothing but brazen propaganda which is not borne out by facts, Debabrata Saikia said, “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.”

Saikia also pointed out Sarma’s comparison between Sarabjit Kaur with Wing Commander Abhinandan as a false equivalency. “Sarma also equates 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. Although the allegation was patently false, any government which respects international norms in such matters will naturally have its hands tied”, he said.