The Assam government on Tuesday distributed the report of the Tewary Commission, which had probed into the 1983 Nellie massacre during which over 2,000 people were killed, and large-scale violence that year, in the Assembly on first day of Winter Session.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress party of supporting terrorists groomed by Pakistan and protecting infiltrators during a rally in Assam. He also highlighted development projects undertaken by the BJP government in the state.
'Super Cop', K P S Gill has stirred the proverbial hornet's nest with his comment that the first martyr of the Assam agitation against illegal migrants, Khargeswar Talukdar, was not killed because of police action but drowned in a pond.
Major General S C N Jatar, who passed into the ages on Monday night, thwarted anti-national forces at the peak of the Assam agitation. Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) salutes this officer and gentleman.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should avoid visiting the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva at Batadrava on January 22, as there can be no competition between Lord Ram and the medieval age Vaishnav saint revered as an icon in the state.
The Assam Congress on Monday suspended its MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed with immediate effect for "repeatedly violating" the party's discipline, a senior leader said.
The North East is a sizeable success story for the Modi government politically and for the BJP electorally. It will be an unpleasant surprise if they choose to blow it, bowing to their basic, polarising instinct at any point, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The Assam government has set up an eight-member committee to prepare a framework for implementation of all clauses of the 36-year-old Assam Accord, especially the Clause-6 report prepared by a central panel pertaining to protecting the cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage of the indigenous people, officials said on Saturday.
He further slammed the saffron party for attempting to "hoodwink" the people following National Register of Citizens publication.
'This movement is not about Hindus, Muslims or Bengalis, but about all Assamese, irrespective of their religious faith or economic class'
He made the remarks on the floor of the state assembly while thanking the House members for unanimously approving a constitutional amendment for extending quotas to SCs and STs by another 10 years.
Trinamool leaders have claimed the NRC process and subsequent verification is vote bank politics. Other critics call it as modified ethnic cleansing. But putting poll rhetoric aside, the issue dates back to a time when many of these leaders had no political relevance.
The Assamese 'gamosa' and the salutation 'Joi Aai Asom' along with the cry 'Ho!Ho!' has become the symbol of the protests raging the state against the amended Citizenship Act.
The senior Congress leader opined that the situation in Assam can now be divided into two phases -- pre-CAA and post-CAA, and it was necessary to unite all anti-CAA forces in order to protect the ethos of the Assam Accord.
Accusing the BJP of adopting an anti-Assam policy, Mahanta said, "Let the BJP form a new government alone. We will welcome that".
Sonowal said that some people are trying to spread misinformation to mislead people and aggravate the situation.
As the regional parties have agreed 'in principle' to join hands in forming one single force to give challenge to Congress, the stage is also set for fomer Assam chief minister and founder president of Asom Gana Parishad Prafulla Kumar Mahanta for coming back to the party he had formed in 1985 as a culmination of Assam's agitation against illegal migrants.
Normal life in the city has been paralysed to the core as protesters are defying curfew and venturing out on the streets.
There were about 290 bandhs, blockades called by numerous organisations during fiscal 2012-13.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has set a two-year deadline to seal the border.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was on Wednesday slapped with a legal notice by Asom Gana Parishad's youth wing, giving him 15 days to apologise for his purported remarks that the party came to power for a second term in Assam with the support of insurgents.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was on Wednesday slapped with a legal notice by Asom Gana Parishad's youth wing, giving him 15 days to apologise for his purported remarks that the party came to power for a second term in Assam with the support of insurgents.
Here's what leaders from different political parties had to say as results were being announced from Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
Strongly reacting to All India Congress Committee vice president Rahul Gandhi's purported remarks that Asom Gana Parishad was in power for a term allegedly with the backing of insurgents, the Asom Gana Parishad on Friday said it would initiate legal action him.
Given the depleting mass base of the regional Asom Gana Parishad led by former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, a section of senior leaders of the party are waiting in the wings to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is gaining ground in Assam.
'The Bodos and the Assamese were at each other's throats, the Assamese Muslims and the Bengali Muslims were at each other's throats, the Bengali speaking Muslims and Hindus were coming together against the Assamese speaking caste Hindus and the plains tribes and vice versa.'
The Bill provides for according Indian citizenship to the the Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12 years even if they do not possess any document.
Assam CM Tarun Gogoi accused PM Narendra Modi of not taking action against those involved in Panama scam, saying many of those involved in the case were "close to him".
The citizens' register in Assam does not get to the bottom of things.
'After the NRC it is proved that whatever the BJP was saying about illegal Bangladeshi migrant was a lie and Indian Muslims have their documents to prove their citizenship.'
A total of 3,30,27,661 people had applied to be included in the NRC. Of them, 3,11,21,004 have been included in the document and 19,06,657 excluded.
The Indian Army seems to be the new target of attack. The news leaks, of origin unknown, have been attempting to target individuals inconvenient to the government. In the bargain, mutual trust between individuals and institutions has been severely strained, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
'They don't have a political strategy so they are going to try to deal with it purely as a law and order problem.' 'They will try to use the same strategy they have repeatedly used since 2014 in Kashmir.' 'Mr Modi has landed in a situation where he faces the possible prospect of not only being unable to Indianise Kashmir, but his actions may end up making the rest of India a virtual carbon copy of Kashmir.'
'As demonetisation showed us, the Shah-Modi duo can take big risks.' 'Risking economic damage for political benefit, however, is one thing, stoking old fires in complicated Assam is another', warns Shekhar Gupta.
Mudslinging and verbal attacks will definitely surge once the poll dates are announced, but as with any state, there are some crucial issues which will play a significant role in influencing voters in Assam too, says Devanik Saha.
Those who have studied Assam elections say the high turnout has the Congress worried.
'His essential doctrine was only the local police can fight terror.' '"You can't fire at mobs throwing stones," he said, adding one has to think innovatively, even defensively, sometimes.' Shekhar Gupta remembers the uncoventional SuperCop.
It is mischievous to imply that the proposed bill to grant citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists from other nations implies that Muslims and Christians are not Indians, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
The local labour force is streaming out of the region, creating a vacuum that makes it easier for the Bangladeshis to fill in, says R N Ravi
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