Stop harassing minorities in N-E: Sonia

By Our Special Correspondent

GUWAHATI, APRIL 28. The Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, today came down heavily on the AGP and the BJP, ruling parties in the State and the Centre, charging them with ``harassing the minorities'' in the name of deporting infiltrators.

Inaugurating a two-day meeting of Block Congress Committee presidents and grassroot-level party workers of the north-eastern region here, she said the AGP and the BJP were only interested in ``targeting the minorities'' and were colluding to scrap the Illegal Migration (Determination by Tribunal) Act.

She said it was her late husband, Rajiv Gandhi, who had signed the Assam Accord with the student leaders of the State. But these leaders, after coming to power, showed little interest either in implementing the Accord or in detecting and deporting the infiltrators.

She claimed that it was between 1991 and 1996, when the Congress(I) was in power in the State that the Assam Accord was implemented to the greatest extent and the largest number of infiltrators were deported.

She said once the Congress(I) returned to power, the targeting of minorities would end. The party would give full protection to the minorities and not allow the IM(DT) Act to be scrapped.

She also accused the two previous United Front Governments and the present NDA Government at the Centre of ``doling out'' only false promises to the small and underdeveloped States and to the poor people of the north-eastern region.

This region, she said, should form a bridgehead between India and South and South-East Asia. For this, a serious diplomatic initiative had to be taken with neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and even China.

The Nagaland Chief Minister and president of the North-East Congress(I) Coordination Committee, Mr. S.C. Jamir, said the Congress(I) should carefully identify its partners and allies so that the long-term interests of the party did not suffer.

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