Site of eviction drive now stage for his speech, Amit Shah’s Assam promise: Won’t spare a single infiltrator

Shah also spoke about accords with various insurgent groups signed by the government in the past few years, starting with the 2020 Bodo Accord and up to the 2023 pact with the pro-talks faction of the ULFA. (Image: Amit Shah/X)

Inaugurating a major cultural project developed by the Assam government at the birthplace of revered 16th-century Vaishnavite saint-reformer Srimanta Sankardeva – at a site on which a large eviction drive was undertaken three years ago – Union Home Minister Amit Shah vowed that all of Assam will be made “free of infiltrators” if the BJP is voted back to power in the state.

Shah was inaugurating the ‘Batadrava Cultural Project,’ a prestige project of the Assam government in the state’s Nagaon district. Batadrava is the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardev, and the Batadrava Sattra (monastic institution) is one of the most sacred sites for Assamese Vaishnavites.

Since its campaign for the 2016 elections – the first time that the BJP came to power in the state – the encroachment of land belonging to Sattras in different parts of the state has been broached as a major identity issue by the party. In December 2022, the state government conducted an eviction drive affecting 359 Bengali-Muslim families on the land surrounding and belonging to the Sattra.

According to the state government, this project has been developed on 162 bighas of that land at an estimated cost of Rs 217 crore. It includes a Guru Asana (an altar distinctive to the Sankardev tradition), guest houses, an art centre, a research centre, a skill development centre and a theatre, with the architecture modelled after traditional artefacts.

Highlighting its 500-year-old heritage, Shah said at the inauguration, “Was it right that these Bangladeshi infiltrators were there in Mahapurush Sankardev’s memorial place? Today, I want to thank Himanta Biswa Sarma for removing infiltrators from this sacred place and for having done the work of again establishing a namghar (community prayer hall) here.”

Speaking about the widespread evictions that have been carried out by the state government, he said, “This campaign has taken place throughout Assam. More than 1 lakh bigha of land has been freed from infiltrators… The Congress party was encouraging them for years. By bringing the IMDT [Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals)] Act in 1983, they created a legal way for infiltrators to settle here. On Mahapurush Sankardev’s land today, I want to say, the BJP’s resolution is to find and remove infiltrators chun chun ke (one by one), not just from Assam but from the country.”

Under the IMDT Act, the onus of proving the nationality of an alleged illegal immigrant before the tribunal lay on the complainant. The Act was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2005 based on a petition by former chief minister and current Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

During his speech, Shah also spoke about accords with various insurgent groups signed by the government in the past few years, starting with the 2020 Bodo Accord and up to the 2023 pact with the pro-talks faction of the ULFA. Saying that “92%” of the points in these pacts have been implemented, he said that if the BJP is voted back to power, “we will take this from 92% to 100%”.

Speaking about cultural and developmental projects undertaken by the state government, he ended his address by saying, “Give us five more years; we will make all of Assam free of infiltrators. This is our resolution. Those who think of infiltrators as a vote bank cannot do this work. Infiltrators are a very big threat to the country’s security and Assam’s culture, and only those who accept that can do this work. And BJP is the only party which thinks this way.”

During his one-day visit to the state, Shah will also inaugurate a new building of the Guwahati Police Commissionerate and an integrated command and control system, as well as attend a separate programme to inaugurate a 5,000-seater auditorium in Guwahati.