Dev among five GoM members
http://www.sentinelassam.com/sentinel_en/story1.htm
From our Correspondent
NEW DELHI, July 16: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Law Minister HR Bharadwaj, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Santosh Mohan Dev were the members of the Group of Ministers (GoM) which would thoroughly study the SC verdict on the IM(DT) Act, and recommend measures to be taken by the Centre.
Talking to newsmen at Assam Bhavan here today, Gogoi, while welcoming the ruling of the apex court, said that the detection of foreigners would be done by the tribunals the number of which would be increased to 32 from the present 16 so that the detection of foreigners became a smooth affair.
He criticized the AGP and the BJP for not taking any concrete steps to solve the foreigners problem when they were in power. "When the BJP was in power at the Centre, I had continuously asked the then Home Minister LK Advani to look into the influx problem seriously. He never took the matter seriously. He didnt even bother to visit the border areas to get a first hand knowledge of the problem. Now when we are trying to solve the problem they are opposing it, criticizing the setting up of the GoM," Gogoi said, adding that the AGP demanded the repeal of the IM(DT) Act after 2000 only.
He also mentioned that the SC verdict has created a fear-psychosis among the people belonging to the minority community in Assam. "The Government is committed to protect the Indian citizens. We will not allow anyone to harass the genuine citizens of Assam. My Government will never tolerate any act which will create communal disharmony," he said.
He questioned BJP leader Promod Mahajan for his remark that Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh are refugees and Muslims from the neighbouring nation are aliens, "Wont you call Hindus belonging to Bangladesh or any other neighbouring countries foreigners?"
Gogoi appreciated the AASU for dealing with the foreigners issue with maturity. "The prime concern of the Government is to detect the foreigners who entered Assam after 1971, and to deport them as soon as possible. We can do it only with the help of the common people and students," he said.
The problem of immigration can be solved only after the upgradation of the 1951 National Register of Citizens (NRC). "The upgradation work has already started but yet to pick up the required pace," he said.
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