Guwahati: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on February 21 laid the foundation stone of the headquarters of the 10th Battalion of the Assam Police in Kochutoli, Assam. The project is being constructed on land freed from encroachment of illegal Bangladeshi settlers by the BJP government in 2024-25. Addressing a public gathering, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has developed Assam across sectors, and in the next five years, Assam will become the industrial hub of eastern and North-Eastern India.
He stated that the land occupied by infiltrators had posed a major threat to Guwahati, Assam, and the entire country. He added that the presence of these infiltrators posed a serious challenge to Assam’s development. Home Minister Amit Shah said that during the tenure of the Congress government, infiltrators had entered the region and pushed Assam’s demographic situation to a dangerous level.
Congress party bears direct responsibility for several areas of Assam — such as Dhubri, Barpeta, Morigaon, Darrang, Bongaigaon, and Nagaon — becoming infiltrator-dominated”, the home minister said. He reaffirms that the BJP government will work to free Assam from the consequences of the wrongs committed by the opposition party. He said that CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has freed nearly 1.45 lakh bighas of land from infiltrators, provided government jobs to more than 1.4 lakh people in Assam without corruption. If the BJP government is formed again in the next five years, they will identify and deport every infiltrator from the country.
The Union Home Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi possesses the courage, determination, and firm resolve to free the country’s land from infiltrators. He stated that the support of the state government is essential to remove infiltrators, which would never be possible if the opposition party comes to power. Home minister Shah alleged that infiltrators have become a vote bank for the opposition party. Once the BJP government is formed, within the next five years they will remove infiltrators not only from the electoral rolls but also from the country.
Shah said that the Election Commission is conducting the SIR because the process will help identify infiltrators. But the Leader of the Opposition has launched an agitation against it to secure his vote bank. He said, under our government, the country is becoming free from Naxalism, and in the same way, Assam and the entire nation will also become free from infiltrators. Home Minister Shah accused that by allowing infiltrators to enter, the Congress party handed over Assam’s fertile land to them, which harmed the identity of the Assamese community and also put its cultural heritage at risk. “ The Congress party damaged all three — Jati (community), mati (land), and bheti (cultural foundation) of Assam”, Amit Shah stated.
Accusing Congress for ignoring the history and heritage of Assam, Shah mentioned that during decades of rule by the Congress party, Bir Lachit Borphukan was largely unknown, but today every child — from Gujarat to Kamakhya and from Kashmir to Kanyakumari — knows the brave Lachit Borphukan, and this has been made possible by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “it was also our party’s government that conferred the Bharat Ratna upon Dr. Bhupen Hazarika and Gopinath Ji”, he added. Amit Shah mentioned that the Assam government led by BJP has undertaken extensive work over the past 10 years to improve law and order in the state.
The Congress party had always left the Northeast to its fate. PM Narendra Modi has visited the Northeast 80 times in the past 11 years compared to less than 10 times by former Congress PM late Manmohan Singh, demonstrating that the Northeast is a priority for PM Narendra Modi and the union government. Shah said that the government has taken several steps to develop Assam. Lakhs of women have been connected with self-help groups, land rights have been granted to 2.5 lakh landless indigenous people, and special schemes have been introduced for tea garden workers. He stated that on 14 February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonstrated that Assam is changing by landing an Air Force aircraft on a highway in the state
