Silchar Daily丨 News 丨05 JANUARY
1. No genuine citizen will be left out of NRC: PM
SILCHAR
(ASSAM): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured the people of Assam
that no genuine citizen will be left out of the? National Register of Citizens
(NRC) and hoped that the Citizenship bill will soon be getting Parliament’s
nod.“I am aware of the problems and difficulties faced by many during the NRC
process but I assure you that no injustice will be done to any genuine Indian
citizens." he told the Vjjay Sankalp Samavesh Rally at Kalinagar near
here.
“The
government is also moving ahead with the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. It is linked with emotions and related
to peoples’
lives. It is not for the benefit of anyone but a penance against the injustice and many wrongs
done in the past. I hope the bill will be passed soon in Parliament," he
said, flagging of Tthe
Bharatiya Janata Patty’s (BJP)
Lok Sabha poll campaign in the Northeast.
Modi also
spoke about his govementment’s decision to implement Clause “Now the road is
clear to safeguard social, cultural and linguistic identity
of Assam. I am indebted to the people of Assam for voting for the BJP In the
recent Panchayat elections and I am committed to repay this debt by ensuring
the development of the state." he said.Recalling his inauguration of the
country’s longest rail-cumroad bridge at BogibeeI in upper Assam on December 25, Modi said. “I am fortunate to be with the
people of Assam for the second time in 10 days." “The Barak and Brahmaputra
valleys are a source of inspiration not only for the state but also for the
country," Modi added.The Prime Minister arrived at Silchar in Cachar
district from Imphal as a part of his first phase of poll campaign, wherein he
is scheduled to
address rallies in 20 states in 100 days before the model code of conduct comes into force.The BJP and
its allies is setting the target to win 21 out of the 25 parliamentury seats in
eight states in the
region and in Assam the party hopes to win at least 11 of the 14 seats. In the
2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had made massive in roads in Assam winning seven of
its 14 parliamentary seats and in the 2016 assembly polls, the party emerged as
the single largest party with 61 seats while its alliance partners Asom Gana
Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) had won 14 and 12 seats
respectively.
2. Over 2 lakh turn up at Silchar rally
SILCHAR:
Over 2 lakh people turned up at the Silchar' Ramnagar Maidan to listen to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi who kick stilled his campaign for the 2019 general
elections.
In the midst
of‘Har Har Modi’ chant, the Prime Minister tried to take the crowd to 2014 when
he campaigned at the same venue but the result was not soothing. However, in
the past four and a half years, much water has flown through Barak River—now,
BJP is ruling in
Assam and in the just concluded
Panchayat
polls, the saffron brigade emerged triumphant.
“lam
indebted to the people of Assam for voting us into power in the recent Panchayat
elections and I am committed to repay this debt by ensuring the development of the state.” he said. The ‘Vjjay Sankalp
Samavesh’ also saw some
of the big leaders
of the state make their conviction clear ahead of the Iok Sabha polls. Assam
Finance, Health and PWD Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took potshots at Congress
president Rahul Gandhi for making "baseless” corruption allegations on
die NDA government on
the Rafale deal. "Rahul Gandhi is a Pakistan sympathizer who is scared
that his favourite country (Pakistan) might be threatened if our armed forces
are strengthened by this deal. He and his family stands exposed", Sarma
said. Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal echoed Sarnia’s views and told the crowd about
his government’s firm belief in the mantra of Sabka Saath. Sabka Vikas. The
Chief Minister also boasted of his achievements in the state ranging from enhancing
rail, road and air connectivity as well facilitating the Jan Dhan, Mudra. Saubhagya,
Atal Amrit and Ayushman Bharat schemes among others. Several other top leaders
of the BJP too spoke on the occasion, including Uttar Pradesh minister Mahendra
Singh, Assam BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass, Assam Minister of Forests,
Fisheries and Excise Parimal Suklabaidya, Silchar MLA and former Deputy Speaker
Dilip Paul, lone Mizoram BJP MLA B.D. Chakma, Patharkandi MLA Krishnendu Paul
and others. The Ramnagar rally was less a campaign and more an attempt to build the momentum for the ensuing big fight in
2019.
3. AKRSU burn effigies, calls for Assam bandh
K0KRAJHAR/GOSSAIGA0N:
The All Koch Rajbongshi Students Union (AKRSU) on Friday burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister
Rajnath Singh and
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonawal,
alleging failure to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status and Kamtapur as a separate state for the Koch Rajbongshi
community.AKRSU activists burning effigies and shouting slogans began the rally
from AKRSU office
in Dimolgaon and gathered
at Kadamtala in Kokrajhar.
They alleged
that during the
last Assembly elections, it was promised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)that the demands of the Koch
Rajbongshi community will be fulfilled within six months. Speaking to media persons, Kankon Ray, President of AKRSU’s Kokrajhar district committee,
said. “We want Kamtapur
as a separate state and ST status for the community. We have burnt the effigies
of the leaders since their promises were all lies."
“We have
been compelled to call for an Assam bandh on January 8, 2019 to pressurise the
BJP top brass to fulfill our long pending demands," he added. He further
maintained that
if the demands were not
fulfilled, then the parties including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Asom Gana
Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) will not be allowed to enter
Koch-Rajbongshi villages. Ray warned
that the community will vote against the RIP-led alliance partners and
threatened that their candidates will not be allowed to win the forthcoming Lok Sabha
election
4. Modi’s speech: No mention of paper mills
SILCHAR: The
employees of Cachar Paper Mill waited with bated breath to listen to the Prime
Minister’s speech hoping that he will give a hint of breaking the impasse on
the twin paper mills whose fate is looming in the large for the past two
years—unfortunately, he kept mum on this issue.
Modi did not
utter a single word about the two defunct paper mills. Cachar Paper Mill, the
only major industrial undertaking in Barak Valley, is located at Panchgram in Hailakandi
district, around 24 kilometers from here,while the Nagaon Paper Mill is at
Jagiroad in Morigaon district, around 332 kilometers from here.
Modi,
touched upon issues like the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. 2016 and National
Register of Citizens (NRC), but the Issue of the defunct mills remained out of his
speech.Besides, a group of members of the HPC Paper Mills Revival Action
Committee, a conglomerate of workers’ unions of the two mills, converged at Silchar
Railway Station around
11:30am on Friday and were about to march to Ramnagar, where the PrimeMinister’s
programme was held. However, they were cordoned off by security officials and detained. They were later released
in the evening. Manobendra Chakraborty, chief convener of the committee, took potshots
at PM and said that he
is not concerned about the employees. “All the commitments he made in the past
about the mills were hogwash," he ridiculed.Coming down heavily on Modi, he said even though Modi had two
years ago announced that the Cachar Paper Mill would be made functional if the BJP
came to power, nothing has happened till date.
