GUWAHATI:
The state Congress has come down heavily on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for drawing similarities between the party and proscribed outfit United Liberation Front of Asom – Independent (ULFA-I).
“ULFA-I commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah still remembers Sarma to be his one-time colleague. Now, though he (Sarma) pretends to be a monk, his past is well known to all,” said Bhupen Kumar Bora, president, of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), on May 23.
Bora’s remarks came as a reaction to Sarma’s comments made during a media enclave organised by two Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) magazines in which he had said that “there is no difference between them (Congress) and the ULFA-I”.
“The nation raises the question about his credentials when Baruah often refers to him. The ULFA in a statement issued in December 2011 had said that Sarma left the banned outfit because he lacked in-depth knowledge of ULFA’s movement. All these points raise serious doubts about a person’s integrity, a person who is now occupying the coveted post of the chief minister. We want to reiterate our commitment towards the Constitution, to the people of Assam and to the idea of India,” said Bora.
Bora further said that, although the chief minister is entitled to his opinion and to the RSS-BJP’s idea of India, but to attribute Rahul’s observation to “fake intellectualism” as an attempt to encourage separatism is utterly misplaced. “We want to point out that the chief minister and his party, the BJP, are known for distorting facts and blatant disregard for the very idea of India. Sarma does not even agree to India being a union of states even though Article 1 of the Constitution of India declares it to be one,” he said.