Assam’s Leader of the Opposition, Debabrata Saikia, slammed Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal-led Government in the State for failing to protect the State’s interest and address the growing insecurity in the State.
Saikia’s statement came days after a top brass of the Assam police admitted that the resentment against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 has led young people in some districts to join the anti-talk faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).
“This is nothing short of a confirmation of the Sarbananda Sonowal-led Government’s failure to protect Assam’s interests and its tendency to betray people,” Saikia said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Director General (Special Branch) of Assam Police and the Superintendent of Police, Tinsukia and other senior officials of the police administration have recently stated that the resentment against the Bill across the State has been fuelling a fresh spurt in young people of the Brahmaputra Valley joining the ULFA faction led by its commander in chief Paresh Baruah.
“The ULFA’s popularity had gradually waned during the decade-and-a-half when the Congress was in power in the State. But the Narendra Modi-led Central Government’s decision to table the controversial Bill and the Sarbananda Sonowal-led State Government’s failure to mount a strong opposition to the proposed legislation are inducing a section of young boys and girls to take up arms against the State,” Saikia said.
He said that dwindling employment opportunities and stagnation of development activities like the MGNREGA are also creating frustration and resentment among many youth, who are gravitating towards the ULFA faction.
Referring the all-round failure of the state government, the Opposition leader pointed out that although the Chief Minister keeps talking about “zero tolerance of corruption”, yet the Chief Minister has only resorted to superficial whitewashing and has been unable to muster the courage to conduct a CBI inquiry into the widespread reports of several syndicates operating in the state to smuggle coal, stone, sand, ‘supari’ (dried areca nut) etc.
“Similarly, the Chief Minister has remained a helpless spectator to the woes of the health sector, including serial crib deaths in the medical colleges-cum-hospitals in Barpeta and Jorhat and the supply of contaminated medicines by certain parties, a fact which the government admitted in the House,” he said adding that the state will slide back to the days of violence and lack of development if the Government led by Mr. Sonowal does not pull up its socks.