Guwahati, Aug. 9: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took a dig at the Congress party and said that Manipur has not seen violence for the first time, and the state has witnessed the killing of civilians, police, and army personnel since the last 75 years under Congress rule.
He said that when the Congress was in power in Manipur, lots of killing was reported.
Talking to reporters in Guwahati, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, ” In 1990, 300 people were killed, and it was the Congress government then. In 1993, 1100 people died, in 1997, 400 people were killed; and in 2001, 95 people died. In 2003, 140 people were killed, in 2006, 105 people died. In 2008, 200 people were killed; in 2010, 220 people died; and in 2012, 165 people died.”
“These are ethnic conflicts and other kinds of violence and Congress was in power in all these times. It was due to wrong policies of the Congress government in the formative years that the region was not able to resolve various disputes. They have put provisions or omitted provisions in the constitution which have hindered communities in the region,” Sarma stated.
Sarma alleged that Congress has blood on its hands in the northeast. Congress hands, as far as the northeast is concerned, are full of blood. In the 2008 riot in Kokrajhar, 64 people were killed, and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh did not visit Assam. An MP in parliament said that Dr. Singh visited Assam, which is not correct. In 2012, Dr. Singh visited Kokrajhar for an hour, which was a token visit.”
He said that during Congress time, there was a border clash between Assam and Nagaland. “States were created, but there was no boundary demarcation. Jawaharlal Nehru was apprehended regarding Indira Gandhi’s safety during a proposed visit to Assam in 1962. Nehru’s concern stemmed from the fear that she might be abducted by the Chinese army”.