AJP slams BJP over ‘broken promises’ ahead of PM Modi’s Assam visit

Dibrugarh, Sept 13: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Assam, the Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government, accusing it of betraying the people of Assam on multiple key promises, including the full implementation of the Assam Accord, recognition of six indigenous communities as Scheduled Tribes, and uplifting of the tea garden community.

Addressing a press conference here today, AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi said the BJP government has failed to uphold its own commitments made to the people of Assam over the past decade.

He specifically cited the Prime Minister’s bold 2014 pre-election declaration in which Modi had stated that all illegal Bangladeshi immigrants would be expelled after May 16, 2014.

“Eleven years have passed since that statement, and yet, the government has taken no substantial step to identify or deport illegal immigrants,” Gogoi said.

“Not only has the BJP government failed to act, but it has actively undermined the spirit of the Assam Accord by enacting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which legitimises the presence of post-1971 migrants, completely disregarding the core cut-off date agreed upon in the Accord,” he said and further demanded that entire Assam be exempted from the CAA.

Gogoi further expressed deep concern over the fate of the Justice Biplab Kumar Sharma Committee report, which was constituted to recommend mechanisms for implementing Article 6 of the Assam Accord, related to constitutional, legislative, and administrative safeguards for the Assamese people. “The report has mysteriously vanished from public discourse. It appears the government has chosen to bury it, just like its promises,” he alleged.

The AJP president also criticised the newly issued Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025, which allows individuals who entered Assam before December 31, 2024, to apply for legal settlement.

Gogoi said this move essentially legitimises 53 years of illegal immigration into Assam. “This is an outright demographic assault on Assam. The burden of unchecked migration has already strained our resources for decades, and now the BJP wants to make it permanent,” he warned.

Gogoi also drew attention to the BJP’s failure to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six indigenous communities – Tea Tribes, Ahoms, Mataks, Koch-Rajbongshis, Chutias and Morans despite promises made in both the 2014 and 2016 election campaigns.

“The BJP made grand announcements to grant ST status, but nine years later, these communities are still waiting,” Gogoi said. He condemned the government’s crackdown on members from the All Koch-Rajbongshi Students’ Union (AKRSU) who were recently lathicharged during a peaceful rally demanding ST recognition near Golakganj bazar in Dhubri. “The unrest we’re witnessing among these communities is a direct result of the BJP’s broken promises and betrayal,” he added.

Highlighting the plight of Assam’s tea garden workers, Gogoi said the BJP has failed to improve the socio-economic conditions of over 75 lakh population, who represent more than 20 per cent of the State’s population.

By Staff Correspondent