Silchar: Trinamool Congress party sent a team of six leaders to take part in the eight-member delegation visiting Assam after the draft introduced regarding National Register of Citizens (NRC). But as soon as they reached Silchar airport, they were stopped and treated “like infiltrators and pushed back.”
The six leaders left Assam this morning after they were held at the airport for whole night.
According to Cachar district Deputy Commissioner S Lakshamanan, the six TMC leaders left and other two MPs would be leaving the state later in the day. The two other leaders are Mamatabala Thakur and Arpita Ghosh.
The delegation from TMC comprising six MPs, on MLA and another one being West Bengal minister had gone to Silchar in Assam to interact with people affected due to the complete draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) published on July 30.
The draft for the National Register of Citizens said to be a proof of Assamese citizenship had excluded more than 40 lakh people from it. The move triggered a political slugfest between the BJP and other political parties.
After arriving in Kolkata, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said, “The way infiltrators are treated… they are pushed back… we were treated the same way… we were pushed back. We were manhandled, even women MPs were not spared.”
“How can six MPs, a minister and an MLA create trouble in a state?” he asked while talking to reporters.
The document for the prohibitory order said that action would be taken against all those people found to be carrying firearms and explosives, Mr. Roy said, and asked whether if they had been carrying such items.
Before leaving Silchar, he had said, “We are going back. The police have not allowed us to go out. We requested them several times but they refused. We spent the night in three rooms at the airport.”
“The way the MPs and a state minister (Firhad Hakim) were harassed shows that democracy is under threat,” another member of the delegation Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar alleged.
“We wonder whether rule of law exits in the country. It appears that an undeclared emergency is on,” she said.
As soon as the leaders belonging to TMC party landed at Silchar airport on Thursday, the authorities assigned stopped them and took them under preventive custody by reasoning that their visit might create trouble in the region.
The administration at the Cachar district on Wednesday night had already issued prohibitory order under Section 144 of the CrPC in the district area.
But as per the Assam Police statement, they did not harass any of the TMC leaders.
You May Also Read: Samajwadi Party Accuses UP Government Of Running Scam In Gorakhpur Medical College