ULFA would not have formed had 1951 set as deadline for citizenship: Anup Chetia

Guwahati, November 6, 2018:

In the wake of the Dhola incident, United Liberation Front of Assam-Pro Talks general secretary Anup Chetia on Tuesday said that had the Government agreed to set the deadline for claiming citizenship as 1951, then the rebels such as ULFA would not have been formed.

Speaking to InsideNE, Anup Chetia said, "The prime issues of Assam at this moment are the illegal migrants and the Citizenship (Amendent) Bill, 2016. This has turned out to be a major problem because the government during the Assam Agitation had refused to set 1951 as a deadline for citizenship."

"If the government had accepted 1951 to be the deadline then may be today there would not have been ULFA, no reason to have any tensions related to the NRC or even a threat to the Assamese community. If only had the central government at that time agreed to what the people of Assam wanted then may be we could have lived peacefully without any fear of being turned into a minority. Assam would not have lost so many lives,” added Chetia.

Chetia said that just because the government has now introduced the controversial bill, an Assam Agitation like situation has emerged in the state.

Chetia added, “In 1979 ULFA was formed because we thought that a democratic movement will not save Assam from being destroyed by illegal migrants. The same has happened after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was brought by the government. Many youths now have lost their faith in democratic movement and so they have decided to join the independent faction of the ULFA.”

He reacting to the statements of BJP MLA Shiladitya Dev said, "I feel that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is somehow helpless and so he is not being able to take any action against the MLA. It is only an assumption but the Assam government seems to be under complete control of Delhi."

He further added, "The CM and BJP state president Ranjit Kumar Dass had even warned Shiladitya for his provocative remarks but he still keeps on making such statements. This means that even if the CM wants to take action, he is being pushed back by some invisible force which is also backing Shiladitya."

It may be mentioned that over the past few days, a sense of communal hatred has sunk into the minds of people living in  Assam after leaders of various organizations have started making provocative remarks.

Anup Chetia also appealed the people of Assam not to make any communal or provocative statements that could disrupt communal harmony in the state.