What do you think about the displacement of lakhs of people in Assam?
The situation in Assam is very serious. The prime reason of this conflict is large-scale infiltration from Bangladesh. The entire Kokrajhar region where the riots broke out has huge population of such infiltrators. There are regular fights there over land. The indigenous people feel they are losing control over their own land, while the infiltrators have embarked upon large-scale land grab. It is wrong to give it minority-majority or Hindu-Muslim colour. The fact is that it is a fight between the Bangladeshi infiltrators and the original inhabitants. The Bodo Vanvasis are very agitated over it. Since the matter is very sensitive, the government has not acted as responsibly, as it should have been. We feel the situation will not be controlled just with providing relief to the victims, it needs eradication of the root of the problem, which is nothing but the infiltrators.
Do you say the problem will not be resolved until the infiltrators are deported?
Yes. This is the only solution. Any sovereign country has the right to deport all migrants who infiltrate its land illegally. If the government wishes to provide employment to some foreigners, it should be done only following the set mechanism so that the foreigners do not take unfair advantage of the constitutional rights granted to the citizens. If the infiltrators get themselves enrolled in voters’ list, obtain ration cards and other documents, which prove them Indian citizens, it should not be tolerated. It also creates population imbalance.
But the infiltrators have been obtaining these facilities with the help of a section of Indian politicians. Secondly, all the efforts to deport such immigrants have proved to be futile so far?
The government does not have effective mechanism to detect, delete and deport the infiltrators. There is a dire need to first detect their names, then delete them from all documents and then effectively deport to the level that they do not return at all. Until there is sincere work on these fronts the problem will continue. Such people cannot be allowed to cross limits in the country. India must act swiftly and effectively on this front. The policies, which are formulated only keeping in mind the political mileage, can never be beneficial for the country.
Some fanatics have encroached land in Delhi also and forcibly built an structure there. How do you react on it?
This type of incidents are not new. The government must take the anguish of national society on such issues seriously. It is the responsibility of the government to curb any kind of illegal construction. If the structure at Subhas Park is illegal, it must be removed forthwith. There should be no politics or communal divide on it. Everybody should avoid giving it a communal colour and developing the atmosphere of conflict. At the same time, the mentality of encroaching land like this should be arrested effectively.
How is the response to the countrywide protest recently conducted against the Interlocutors’ Report?
The countrywide protest was organised till the district headquarters. There were effective dharnas, protest meetings and demonstrations and people in good number attended them. There were impressive protest meetings in some of the metro cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Nagpur, Delhi, etc. These protests have effectively exposed the ill-will of the Interlocutors.
The Amaranth Yatra this year has witnessed highest number of deaths. Comment.
There is a need to develop the atmosphere of mutual trust from both sides—the government and the pilgrims. The government failed to ensure proper arrangements for the pilgrims and the pilgrims too have lost trust in the local administration. The repeated curtailment in facilities provided to the pilgrims is one of the main reasons for such fatal incidents. Since the weather conditions there are different, the lodging, boarding and health facilities for the pilgrims should be provided accordingly. The curtailment of duration of the Yatra also develops complications, as the large number of pilgrims try to go there in limited span. The administration should not curtail the duration of the Yatra and provide adequate facilities to the pilgrims. The administration can restrict the number of pilgrims keeping in view the arrangements there, but the duration of the Yatra should not be reduced at all.
Shri Pranab Mukherjee is the new President of the country. What do you feel?
We welcome Shri Mukherjee and hope that the country will widely be benefited from his long political experience. We wish he plays a key role in taking the decisions, which are good for the entire nation. His tenure should be fruitful and he, for his good works, remains in the memory of the nation for longer period.
There are reports that a good number of youth participated in the Sangh Shiksha Vargas held across the country this year.
Yes, this is correct. Special attention was paid to increase the number of shakhas in all the Prants during the last a few years. It produced encouraging results. This is one of the reasons why the number of participants increased in all the Sangh Shiksha Vargas. Not only the number of youth but also the number of working and praudh swayamsevaks increased remarkably. It was higher than our expectations. In southern states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka the number of working swayamsevaks attending the Sangh Shiksha Vargas was less for some time. But due to the efforts of the workers the number of such swayamsevaks increased many fold.
The experiment of organising separate Sangh Shiksha Vargas for college students also proved to be a big hit. An exclusive Sangh Shiksha Varga for IT professionals was organised in Karnataka this year. In this Varga, about 70 IT professionals underwent organisational training. It is not an easy task for IT professionals to spare 20 days. But they came in good number and remained in the Varga for all the 20 days. We are trying to make this experiment more effective in other Prants also.
How many Sangh Shiksha Vargas were held and how many swayamsevaks attended them this year?
About 70 Sangh Shiksha Vargas were organised all over the country. About 16,000 swayamsevaks underwent training in all the first, second and third year Vargas.
Will you specify the number of young swayamsevaks?
Majority of the participants, i.e. about 14,000 of the 16000, were youth.
What about the third year Sangh Shiksha Varga?
It too witnessed good number of swayamsevaks. Last year, about 750 swayamsevaks underwent training, while this year the number increased to over 1000.
Is it because of the special efforts?
Yes, it is purely because of the special efforts made by the workers all over the country. But one fact that I wish to make here clear is that instead of increasing the number of swayamsevaks in Sangh Shiksha Vargas we focused on sending right persons there. We do not bother for the number at all. It continues to decrease or increase.
Is there any increase in service projects also being undertaken by the swayamsevaks?
There is not much increase in the service projects as such, as the workers of Sewa Vibhag have decided to focus on effectiveness of the projects for some time. This is necessary to make the work lasting and serve the beneficiaries better.
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