News Analysis India

Tag: Himanta Biswa Sarma

  • Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal expresses deep concern over ferry accident in Assam

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal expressed deep concern over a ferry accident in Assam’sA Majuli on Wednesday and directed his ministry to provide all necessary help for the rescue operations.

    He also spoke to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and enquired about the tragedy.

    Several people are feared dead as a large boat sank in the Brahmaputra river after colliding with a ferry near Nimati Ghat in the Jorhat district of Assam on Wednesday.

    The collision occurred when the private boat was headed to Majuli from Nimati Ghat and the government-owned ferry was coming from Majuli.

    Union Minister of Shipping, Ports and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal has expressed deep anguished and concern to learn about the ferry accident in Majuli, according to an official statement.

    Sonowal spoke with the Assam chief minister over the phone and took stock of the ongoing rescue and relief operations.

    I am pained at the tragic boat accident near Nimati Ghat, Jorhat.Directed Majuli & Jorhat admin to undertake rescue mission expeditiously with help of @NDRFHQ & SDRF. Advising Min @BimalBorahbjp to immediately rush to the accident site. I’ll also visit Nimati Ghat tomorrow.
    — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 8, 2021
    He also directed officials of the ministry to provide all necessary support to help the victims, the statement said.

    Jorhat Deputy Commissioner Ashok Barman said that 41 people have been rescued so far and no body has been found yet.

    “We cannot say right now how many people have died,” a senior official of the Jorhat district administration said.

    Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and SDRF have started a search and rescue operation.

  • Several passengers feared dead after two boats collide in Brahmaputra river in Assam

    By Online Desk

    Several people were reported missing and feared dead after two passenger boats collided with each other in the Brahmaputra river in Assam’s Jorhat on Wednesday.

    Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed the news on social networking site Twitter.

    “I am pained at the tragic boat accident near Nimati Ghat. Directed Majuli & Jorhat admin to undertake rescue mission expeditiously with help of NDRFHQ & SDRF,” the Chief Minister said.

    The accident took place near Nimati Ghat in Jorhat and rescue operations by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are underway.

    Pained to learn about the tragic boat accident near Majuli. Directed DCs of Jorhat & Majuli to undertake relief & rescue operations with help of NDRF SDRF on a war footing. The number of victims is being ascertained. I am visiting the location tomorrow to take stock of situation.
    — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 8, 2021
    (Inputs from ANI. More details awaited.)

  • Won’t mind if CM Himanta mediates in peace talks with Centre: ULFA chief Paresh Baruah

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Banned insurgent group United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) said it would not mind if Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma mediates its possible peace talks with the Centre.

    “We won’t have any objection if the Government of India appoints him (Sarma) as the mediator. He is capable. He knows our history and we have seen his courage, honesty and intent towards resolving the conflict,” ULFA chief Paresh Baruah told an Assamese news channel.

    He said if the Government of India appointed an “Indian” (read mainlander) as the mediator, he would not know “our history” and 42-year-old struggle and sacrifices.

    Baruah acknowledged Sarma’s efforts on the ULFA issue and said it had reassured the outfit as well as the people of Assam. He said the outfit was not averse to talks but kept its doors open.

    ALSO READ | Police encounters unabated in Assam, two more accused injured

    “Former CMs the late Hiteswar Saikia and Prafulla Kumar Mahanta had made some efforts to try and resolve the conflict but the path they had chosen was not correct. Former CM the late Tarun Gogoi had also made an effort but did not continue it. Later, his government divided us by adopting the policy of divide and rule,” Baruah said.

    Since Sarma has made an initiative, the ULFA leader said the outfit was hopeful the CM would be able to convince the Government of India and find out a way for talks.

    “He knows it is a man-made conflict which needs to be resolved politically. If a process of talks starts with us, the Manipur groups will also come forward,” Baruah said, adding, “He (Sarma) has made a good beginning and we are hopeful the end will be equally good.”

    The ULFA chief said the outfit had extended its unilateral ceasefire by three months to help the Assam government fight the pandemic and the menace of drug abuse.

    “We appreciate the Assam government’s fight against Covid and drugs. We thought if we had continued with our military operations, the law-enforcement agencies would have been busy dealing with us. To allow the government to achieve success in what it is doing, we extended the unilateral ceasefire,” Baruah said.

    He added that the ULFA did not want to create hurdles in the government’s fight to “correct” the youth.

    His faction of the ULFA operates out of the soil of Myanmar. Another faction is lying low following its peace negotiations with the Centre.

  • Centre signs ‘historic’ peace pact with five insurgent groups of Assam

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: The Centre on Saturday signed a peace accord with five armed groups based in Assam’s Karbi Anglong.

    The agreement was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and top leaders of the five outfits, which joined the mainstream last year after laying down weapons.

    Shah as well as Sarma described the day as “historic”. “… Modi government is committed to resolving the decades-old crisis, ensuring the territorial integrity of Assam,” the Home Minister tweeted.

    Stating that peace is returning to Karbi Anglong after a long time, he said at the agreement-signing programme that since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014, he (Modi) started working for peace, progress and development of the Northeast.

    “I have closely followed his efforts, as the BJP president and the Home Minister. September 4 will be written in golden letters in the history of Assam and Karbi Anglong. One thousand members of five armed groups have laid down weapons and joined the mainstream,” Shah said.

    The signing of Karbi-Anglong Agreement is another milestone in PM @narendramodi ji’s vision of “Insurgency free Prosperous North East”.Over 1000 armed cadres have abjured violence and joined the mainstream of society, which reflects their trust in PM Modi ji’s leadership. pic.twitter.com/AKK7iosquQ
    — Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 4, 2021
    He said the Assam government and the Centre were fully committed to the rehabilitation of the members of these groups.

    “I commit to the leaders of the five Karbi groups and CM Himanta that we will fulfill all clauses of the agreement within the time that we have set. I have already discussed the issue of rehabilitation with the CM,” Shah said, pointing out that nearly 80% of the clauses of the agreements, signed with displaced Brus, erstwhile insurgent group National Liberation Front of Tripura and Bodos earlier, had been implemented.

    The Assam CM assured that the state government would implement all the clauses of the pact. He said it would set up a committee to study the demand for notifying Karbi language as an associate language in the state.

    “Vast areas of Northeast come under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution but there is no system of reservation. For the first time, the Karbis and the Scheduled Tribe people will get reservations in (autonomous) Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC),” he said.

    ALSO READ | COVID-19: Those unvaccinated in Assam will be deprived of

    According to some key points of the “Memorandum of Settlement”, a committee shall assess the rehabilitation needs of the members of the armed groups based on age profile, educational qualification, the general area of residence, etc.

    The criminal cases registered against them for non-heinous offences will be withdrawn as per the procedure established by law. The cases registered will be reviewed on a case to case basis according to the existing policy on the subject.

    The Assam government will provide financial compensation of Rs 5 lakh to each of the next of kin of persons who died in agitations related to the Autonomous State demand and have not yet been compensated.

    The Centre may allocate Rs 500 crore (Rs 100 crore per annum) for the development of infrastructure in the KAAC area. Additionally, it will contribute Rs 500 crore (Rs 100 crore per annum) to the development of the area.

    The government will ensure greater devolution of autonomy to KAAC. It will also ensure the protection of identity, language, culture, etc of the Karbi people, rehabilitate the members of the armed groups and work for the focussed development of the KAAC area without affecting the territorial and administrative integrity of Assam.

    The Centre may expedite passage of the Constitution (125 Amendment) Bill, 2019 which proposes to rename KAAC as Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council and increase the number of members to not more than 50, of whom, six members, including at least two women members, will be nominated by the Governor. The rest of the members will be elected on the basis of adult suffrage.

    The KAAC has 44 seats and the Central and Assam governments will take the necessary steps to reserve 34 of them for STs and 10 seats under the open category for all communities.

    The two governments may consider enhancing budgetary provisions for KAAC to undertake development activities keeping in view the population and topography of the area.

    District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police of the districts within KAAC will be posted in consultation with the Chief Executive Member of KAAC. The Assam government shall create a post of Deputy Inspector General of Police, exclusively for the hill districts.

    The Government of India will examine the demand for notifying Karbis living outside the KAAC area as ST in Assam. Similarly, the Assam government may consider conferring ST (Hill) status to Karbis living outside the KAAC area. It shall set up a Karbi Welfare Council for focussed development of Karbis living outside the KAAC area.

    The five armed groups are Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front, People’s Democratic Council of Karbi Longri, United People’s Liberation Army, Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers and Kuki Liberation Front.

  • Renaming of Rajiv Gandhi National Park: Congress MP terms it political vendetta

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora on Friday described as “political vendetta” the Assam government’s move to rename the Rajiv Gandhi National Park in the state and demanded its restoration.

    In a letter to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Congress leader said history will always remember the late prime minister, who sacrificed his life for the unity and integrity of India.

    In addition to this, he said, people of Assam will remember Gandhi for his significant role in the historic 1985 Assam Accord which put an end to years of bloodshed during the Assam agitation.

    Bora said the Assam government, during the regime of the then chief minister late Hiteswar Saikia, took the decision to name Orang National Park as Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park “as a mark of honour and respect to this great leader” and since then the national park has got a place at the international level.

    The cabinet meeting held on September 1 “abruptly decided” to withdraw the nomenclature of Rajiv Gandhi from the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park and turned it as Orang National Park only, he said.

    The Congress leader said it has pained the people of Assam to a large extent and such decisions will serve no fruitful purpose in leading Assam to the path of development, “rather it reflects lack of respect to a great leader who sacrificed his life for the country”.

    “There is every reason to believe that your above decision seems to be nothing but political vendetta towards a former prime minister who differs from the political ideology of your party.

    “In view of the forgoing facts and circumstances I urge you to reconsider the above decision and retain the nomenclature of the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park so that history will not term it as a bad precedent in the coming days,” he said.

  • After AIUDF’s exit, activist-turned-politician Akhil Gogoi meets Rahul Gandhi for alliance in Assam

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Assam activist-turned-politician Akhil Gogoi met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday for an alliance between his Raijor Dal and the grand old party.

    Recently, an already weakened Congress severed its ties with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), protesting the leaders of the minority-based party singing paeans of ruling BJP and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

    Gogoi sees this as an opportunity to fill up the vacuum created by the AIUDF by offering the Congress his support to ensure that his fledgling Raijor Dal could ride piggyback on the banner of the national party.

    The Congress and the AIUDF were two key components of a grand alliance of Opposition or “Mahajot”. It was formed ahead of last elections to defeat the BJP.

    The Congress’s state leadership is averse to a political alignment with Raijor Dal and made it known in no uncertain terms. However, Gogoi still met Gandhi to try and secure the alliance.

    “I met Rahul Gandhi and Mukul Wasnik. We discussed how we (opposition parties) can fight to restore the federal structure of the country, the recently-held Assam elections and the upcoming by-elections in the state,” Gogoi, who is Raijor Dal’s lone MLA, told journalists.

    ALSO READ | Don’t weaken ‘Mahajot’, AIUDF tells Congress after being removed from alliance in Assam

    Praising Gandhi for his political maturity and experience, he said the Congress duo had clearly stated that there should be an understanding.

    “Since the Congress high command favours the alliance, the party’s state leadership has to accept it. If they do so, the BJP will be uprooted in Assam,” Gogoi asserted, adding, “If the BJP is to be defeated, we have to unite. We will defeat BJP in upper Assam.”

    The Congress’s state president Bhupen Kumar Borah, who left for Delhi on Thursday, told this newspaper that the state unit would abide by the decision of the party’s central leaders.

    “I will meet all top leaders of our party and apprise them how he (Akhil Gogoi) attempted to belittle the Congress in public with his statements such as ‘Congress is a setting sun’, ‘Congress cannot do well under Rahul Gandhi’ etc,” Borah said.

    He added that the Congress workers were unhappy over such remarks.

    One reason behind the Congress’s defeat in the last elections was its dismal performance in Assamese-majority upper Assam where a strong sentiment of Assamese sub-nationalism works and where people view the AIUDF as the protector of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

    The Congress-AIUDF poll tie-up had helped the minority-based party more than the grand old party.

  • Assam CM welcomes former AIUDF leader Phanidhar Talukdar into BJP

    By ANI

    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday welcomed Phanidhar Talukdar into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

    Talukdar, yesterday resigned from All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).

    The Chief Minister in a tweet said that the former Member of the Legislative Assembly will join BJP later today.

    The faith of leaders across political spectrum in Hon PM Sri @narendramodi continues to grow.Happy to have met Hon MLA of Bhabanipur Sri Phanidhar Talukdar, who resigned from @AIUDFOfficial & will join @BJP4Assam later today. I welcome him to our Pariwaar.@JPNadda @blsanthosh pic.twitter.com/ZAXdaDkJcy
    — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 1, 2021
    “The faith of leaders across political spectrum in Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to grow. Happy to have met honourable MLA of Bhabanipur Phanidhar Talukdar, who resigned from AIUDF and will join BJP later today. I welcome him to our Pariwaar,” Sarma said.

    The sitting MLA from Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF quit the party on Tuesday. He had contested the state assembly polls early this year on an AIUDF ticket.  

  • New palm oil mission: Assam to submit proposal by next week

    By PTI

    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the state government was keen to derive maximum benefits out of the Centre’s new mission to boost palm oil production.

    The state government will submit a detailed proposal in this regard to the Centre by next week, a statement quoting the chief minister said.

    He was speaking at a video conference of Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and DoNER Minister G Kishan Reddy with chief ministers of northeastern states on agriculture and horticulture-related issues of the region, with a focus on National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), the statement said.

    Sarma informed the Union ministers that at present Assam has 350 hectares under cultivation for palm oil, covering Goalpara, Bongaigaon, and Kamrup (Rural) districts.

    The Union Cabinet had on August 18 given its approval to launch the NMEO-OP to boost palm oil production with a special focus on the Northeastern region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

    Out of its total financial outlay of Rs 11,040 crore, the NE region has been allocated Rs 5,850 crore, the statement further said.

    Several other matters, including Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Regions (MOVCDNER), National Bamboo Mission (NBM), and Sustainable Development Goals, were also discussed, it said.

  • Nearly 5.74 lakh affected in Assam floods, Modi calls up CM Himanta

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Nearly 5.74 lakh people in 22 of Assam’s 34 districts are affected by the first wave of the floods which were triggered by incessant rains.

    The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said one more person – a child – died on Tuesday which took the death toll to three. Several rivers, including the Brahmaputra, were in a spate, flowing above the danger level.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and took stock of the situation.

    Spoke to Assam CM Shri @himantabiswa and took stock of the flood situation in parts of the state. Assured all possible support from the Centre to help mitigate the situation. I pray for the safety and well-being of those living in the affected areas.
    — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 31, 2021
    “Spoke to Assam CM Shri @himantabiswa and took stock of the flood situation in parts of the state. Assured all possible support from the Centre to help mitigate the situation. I pray for the safety and well-being of those living in the affected areas,” the PM tweeted.

    Sarma expressed his gratitude to Modi for standing up with the people of Assam at this hour of crisis.

    According to ASDMA, 1,278 villages in 61 revenue circles have been affected. The 5,73,938 affected people include 1,91,821 women and 1,44,582 children.

    The authorities set up 105 relief camps where 4,009 of the marooned were taking shelter. Cropland affected was in areas of over 39,831 hectares. Roads and infrastructure were damaged in several districts.

    The rising water of the Brahmaputra inundated over 70% of the Kaziranga National Park. So far, nine animals – two swamp deer and seven hog deer – died. Some of them died in vehicle hits on a national highway that traverses the World Heritage Site, famed for one-horned rhinos.

    The rescued rhino calf

    A 10-day old rhino calf was rescued by the forest guards from the park on Tuesday. The mother could not be traced. The weak and debilitated calf was sent to the nearby Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation for stabilization and rehabilitation.

    “Vast tracts of the park have been hit by the deluge and the park authorities are keeping a close watch on the movement of animals that cross over the national highway and face the risk of being run over,” Sabir Nishat, PRO to the forest minister, told The New Indian Express.

  • PM Modi speaks to Assam CM to take stock of flood situation

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI: With several parts of Assam hit hard by floods, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to take stock of the situation and assured the state of all possible help from the Centre.

    The flood situation in Assam deteriorated with two persons losing their lives and over 3.63 lakh people suffering in the deluge across 17 districts, an official bulletin said on Monday.

    In a tweet, Modi said, “Spoke to Assam CM Shri @himantabiswa and took stock of the flood situation in parts of the state. Assured all possible support from the Centre to help mitigate the situation. I pray for the safety and well-being of those living in the affected areas.”

    Barpeta, Biswanath, Cachar, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, West Karbi Anglong, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon are among the affected districts.

    “Adarniya Pradhan Mantriji telephoned today to enquire about flood situation and assured all help to Assam to combat this menace”, the chief minister said on the microblogging site.

    Lakhimpur is the worst-hit district with more than 1.3 lakh people suffering, followed by Majuli and Darrang, according to the bulletin of Assam State Disaster Management Authority.

    “Current flood has gravely impacted the livelihoods of the people.My gratitude to Adarniya Modiji for standing with us at this hour of crisis,” Sarma said.

    At present, 950 villages are under water and 30,333.36 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, the bulletin added.