News Analysis India

Tag: Himanta Biswa Sarma

  • Assam, Mizoram CMs trade charges after shots fired on interstate border

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: After weeks of a virtual faceoff between Assam and Mizoram police forces due to border disputes, fresh violence was reported from the interstate border on Monday.

    Shots were fired and vehicles were damaged. It was not immediately known what triggered the violence.

    Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma called up his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga and insisted on the maintenance of the status quo on the border.

    “I have just spoken to Hon’ble Chief Minister @ZoramthangaCM ji. I have reiterated that Assam will maintain the status quo and peace between the borders of our state. I have expressed my willingness to visit Aizawl and discuss these issues if need be,” the Assam CM tweeted.

    Honble Zoramthanga ji could you please investigate why are civilians from Mizoram holding sticks and trying to incite violence ? We urge civilians to not take up law and order on their own hands and permit peaceful dialogue to take place between governments @AmitShah @PMOIndia https://t.co/BRkhWYuEUX
    — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 26, 2021

    Responding to him, Zoramthanga wrote on the micro blogging site: “Hon’ble @himantabiswa ji, as discussed I kindly urge that Assam Police @assampolice be instructed to withdraw from Vairengte for the safety of civilians.”

    Dear Himantaji, after cordial meeting of CMs by Hon’ble Shri @amitshah ji, surprisingly 2 companies of Assam Police with civilians lathicharged & tear gassed civilians at Vairengte Auto Rickshaw stand inside Mizoram today. They even overrun CRPF personnel /Mizoram Police. https://t.co/SrAdH7f7rv
    — Zoramthanga (@ZoramthangaCM) July 26, 2021

    Sarma had shared a video from the site on Twitter earlier in the day and wrote: “Honble @ZoramthangaCM ji, Kolasib (Mizoram) SP is asking us to withdraw from our post until then their civilians won’t listen nor stop violence. How can we run government in such circumstances? Hope you will intervene at earliest.”

    Responding, Zoramthanga tweeted: “Dear Himantaji, after cordial meeting of CMs by Hon’ble Shri @amitshah ji, surprisingly 2 companies of Assam Police with civilians lathicharged & tear gassed civilians at Vairengte Auto Rickshaw stand inside Mizoram today. They even overrun CRPF personnel /Mizoram Police.”

    In another tweet, the Mizoram CM shared a video showing a Mizo couple travelling by car that had broken windshields.

    “Innocent couple on their way back to Mizoram via Cachar manhandled and ransacked by thugs and goons. How are you going to justify these violent acts?” Zoramthanga wrote tagging Assam Police.

    Last week, the Assam CM had described the border situation as an eyeball to eyeball confrontation.

    The two states had discussed the issue along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Shillong on Saturday.

    Mizoram has a different perception of the interstate boundary which is based on the British era notification of 1875.

    In a recent letter to the Assam CM, Aizawl Municipal Corporation councilor Rosiamngheta said the British government and the then Mizo chief Suakpuilala had in 1875 agreed to a point near river Dholai as the boundary between the two places. He said since then, the Mizos have accepted it and never heard of any other boundary.

    But in 1933, Rosiamngheta said the British government determined the Assam boundary again without the knowledge or consent of the Mizos.

    “In 1971, the NEARA Act re-identified the interstate boundary once again without the consent or knowledge of the Mizos. Much of Mizo land under British rule was included in Assam territory…

    “The boundary fixation of 1971 has never been accepted by the Mizo people. Assam has wrongly claimed possession over Mizo land by fore deal due to the Mizo yearning for peace and security,” the Mizoram councilor wrote to the Assam CM. 

  • Assam CM says need to balance identity issues, admits to people having reservations on CAA

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said despite confusion among Assamese over the Citizenship Amendment Act, which some felt could turn them into a minority in the state, there was a need to balance identity issues in the larger national interest.

    Sarma speaking at a function where RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat launched a book on CAA and NRC, also asserted the concept of secularism needs to be defined in the context of `Indian civilisation’ and accused the media of being partial towards Left-liberals.

    The chief minister said he would remain a supporter of CAA which in Assam’s context could give citizenship to Hindu migrants from Bangladesh, and added that there was a need to find a way to address concerns over protecting Assamese identity, while finding a way to “balance everything and contribute to nation building”.

    Though he did not clarify what secularism in the context of Indian civilisation meant, his speech seemed to argue that Indian civilisation in his worldview drew strength from Indias culture and religion.

    Attacking Leftist intellectuals, liberals and the media, he claimed the country’s intellectual society is still dominated by left-liberals with the media giving them more space while ignoring alternative voices.

    “An intellectual terrorism has been unleashed and the Left in the country are more leftists than Karl Marx. There is no democracy in media. They have no space for Indian civilisation but there is space for Karl Marx and Lenin”, he claimed.

    India’s right-wing has long disputed the concept of secularism as espoused by both western thinkers and Indian intellectuals who propound that the state needs to be equidistant from adherents of all religions.

    Sarma argued that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) the subject of the book being released, cannot give equal rights to Hindu and Muslim migrants from neighbouring countries.

    Referring to the Citizenship Amendment Act, Sarma said that two perspectives have evolved on the act.

    For protestors from outside Assam, the demand is that Hindu migrants alone should not be given citizenship, Muslim migrants too should be covered.

    In Assam, however, the protest against the Act focussed on a demand that neither Hindus nor Muslims from other countries should be given citizenship.

    “It was the so-called secular protestors at the national level who tried to give a communal colour to the entire protests”, he claimed.

    The CAA is for those “who are victims of partition and not for beneficiaries of a communal country created on the basis of religion”, he said, adding that if Muslim migrants from neighbouring countries could prove they had been discriminated against in their countries of origin, India would be willing to grant them citizenship.

    The CAA enacted in 2019 says Indian citizenship, may be granted to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians from neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who migrated to India before December 31, 2014 and had suffered “religious persecution or fear of religious persecution” in their country of origin.

    Opposition leaders have in the past when the act was being debated in Parliament, pointed out that several Islamic sects too face discrimination in neighbouring countries and that persecution could not be limited to only religious persecution, but could extend to political and social persecution too.

    Sarma argued there were concerns among Assamese people that if Bengali Hindu migrants who have migrated from Banglaesh post-March 1971, are regularised as Indian citizens, then the Assamese speaking people may turn into a minority in the state.

    “People are in deep confusion sometime we say language is our greatest strength, sometime we say civilisation is our strength. But if we see the election results from 2016 to 2021 people have said it loud and clear that civilisational issue is important and we want to protect our culture, religion and identity”, he claimed.

    Analysts have long pointed out that the BJPs twin moves to have a National Register of Citizens which strikes off the names of those the state doubts are its citizens and interns them in camps and to give Hindu Bengali migrants citizenship through the CAA are in a way an attempt to placate both Assamese and Bengali sentiments in the state, but end up being contradictory.

    This contradiction was exploited by leaders like Akhil Gogoi who led a movement in Assam against the CAA and founded a new party Rajyor Dal which attracted eyeballs though it did not fare well electorally.

    “I will remain a supporter of CAA but we will have to address the identity issues, protect our own culture and the Assamese people will (have to ) find a way out where they will balance everything and contribute to the nation building” , Sarma said.

  • Assam CM says need to balance identity issues, admits people in Assam have reservations on CAA

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said despite confusion among Assamese over the Citizenship Amendment Act, which some felt could turn them into a minority in the state, there was a need to balance identity issues in the larger national interest.

    Sarma speaking at a function where RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat launched a book on CAA and NRC, also asserted the concept of secularism needs to be defined in the context of `Indian civilisation’ and accused the media of being partial towards Left-liberals.

    The chief minister said he would remain a supporter of CAA which in Assam’s context could give citizenship to Hindu migrants from Bangladesh, and added that there was a need to find a way to address concerns over protecting Assamese identity, while finding a way to “balance everything and contribute to nation building”.

    Though he did not clarify what secularism in the context of Indian civilisation meant, his speech seemed to argue that Indian civilisation in his worldview drew strength from Indias culture and religion.

    Attacking Leftist intellectuals, liberals and the media, he claimed the country’s intellectual society is still dominated by left-liberals with the media giving them more space while ignoring alternative voices.

    “An intellectual terrorism has been unleashed and the Left in the country are more leftists than Karl Marx. There is no democracy in media. They have no space for Indian civilisation but there is space for Karl Marx and Lenin”, he claimed.

    India’s right-wing has long disputed the concept of secularism as espoused by both western thinkers and Indian intellectuals who propound that the state needs to be equidistant from adherents of all religions.

    Sarma argued that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) the subject of the book being released, cannot give equal rights to Hindu and Muslim migrants from neighbouring countries.

    Referring to the Citizenship Amendment Act, Sarma said that two perspectives have evolved on the act.

    For protestors from outside Assam, the demand is that Hindu migrants alone should not be given citizenship, Muslim migrants too should be covered.

    In Assam, however, the protest against the Act focussed on a demand that neither Hindus nor Muslims from other countries should be given citizenship.

    “It was the so-called secular protestors at the national level who tried to give a communal colour to the entire protests”, he claimed.

    The CAA is for those “who are victims of partition and not for beneficiaries of a communal country created on the basis of religion”, he said, adding that if Muslim migrants from neighbouring countries could prove they had been discriminated against in their countries of origin, India would be willing to grant them citizenship.

    The CAA enacted in 2019 says Indian citizenship, may be granted to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians from neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who migrated to India before December 31, 2014 and had suffered “religious persecution or fear of religious persecution” in their country of origin.

    Opposition leaders have in the past when the act was being debated in Parliament, pointed out that several Islamic sects too face discrimination in neighbouring countries and that persecution could not be limited to only religious persecution, but could extend to political and social persecution too.

    Sarma argued there were concerns among Assamese people that if Bengali Hindu migrants who have migrated from Banglaesh post-March 1971, are regularised as Indian citizens, then the Assamese speaking people may turn into a minority in the state.

    “People are in deep confusion sometime we say language is our greatest strength, sometime we say civilisation is our strength. But if we see the election results from 2016 to 2021 people have said it loud and clear that civilisational issue is important and we want to protect our culture, religion and identity”, he claimed.

    Analysts have long pointed out that the BJPs twin moves to have a National Register of Citizens which strikes off the names of those the state doubts are its citizens and interns them in camps and to give Hindu Bengali migrants citizenship through the CAA are in a way an attempt to placate both Assamese and Bengali sentiments in the state, but end up being contradictory.

    This contradiction was exploited by leaders like Akhil Gogoi who led a movement in Assam against the CAA and founded a new party Rajyor Dal which attracted eyeballs though it did not fare well electorally.

    “I will remain a supporter of CAA but we will have to address the identity issues, protect our own culture and the Assamese people will (have to ) find a way out where they will balance everything and contribute to the nation building” , Sarma said.

  • Indian Leftists extreme than Karl Marx, should define secularism in context of  civilization: Assam CM

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday asserted that the concept of secularism needs to be defined in the context of ‘Indian civilisation’.

    Attacking Leftist intellectuals, liberals and the media, Sarma claimed the country’s intellectual society is still dominated by the left-liberals with the media giving them more space while ignoring alternate voices.

    “An intellectual terrorism has been unleashed and the Lefts in the country are more leftists than Karl Marx. There is no democracy in media… they have no space for Indian civilisation but there is space for Karl Marx and Lenin”, he claimed.

    Mediapersons may agree in private to an alternative narrative but they prefer giving space to left -liberals saying that this reflects an independent view, Sarma alleged.

    “The left thinking has to be challenged and more thought-provoking books based on history, of our long struggle for existence must be documented in the right perspective”, he said.

    The Chief Minister however did not specify how secularism would be defined in the context of Indian civilisation, though he asserted that India India has been a secular country since Rig Vedic times.

    “We have given the concept of secularism and humanity to the world. Our civilisation is five thousand years old and we have accepted diversity of thought, religion and culture since ages”, the Chief Minister said.

    Referring to the Citizenship Amendment Act, Sarma said that there are two perspectives on this- for protestors outside Assam, the demand is why should only Hindus be given citizenship, Muslim migrants should also be covered.

    In Assam, however, the protest against the Act was that neither Hindus nor Muslims from other countries should be given citizenship.

    “It was the so-called secular protestors at the national level who tried to give a communal colour to the entire protests”, he said.

    The CAA is for those “who are victims of partition and not beneficiaries of a communal country created on the basis of religion”, he said.

  • Boundary row: Himanta says ‘eyeball to eyeball confrontation’ along Assam-Mizoram border

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the situation on the Assam-Mizoram interstate boundary was tense due to the border disputes between the two provinces.

    “…Regarding the Assam-Mizoram border, the situation is not conducive. Eyeball to eyeball confrontation is going on in Hailakandi, Cachar, and Karimganj,” Sarma told journalists.

    The three districts in southern Assam’s Barak Valley share their boundary with Mizoram.

    In the aftermath of some recent untoward incidents, including bomb blasts, along the interstate border, both states deployed a large number of policemen to the disputed areas.

    “Recently, Union Home Secretary (Ajay Kumar Bhalla) had discussed the issue with the chief secretaries of both states to resolve the crisis. As of now, the situation on the border is fragile,” Sarma said.

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who will be in Meghalaya on a two-day visit beginning on July 23, is likely to discuss Assam’s border disputes with Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram with the CMs of the states.

    Sarma said he would meet his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma on July 23 to try and resolve the disputes amicably. He said he would also meet Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu to discuss the border situation. He said Assam’s border dispute with Nagaland was pending in the Supreme Court.

    “We expect some headway on the Assam-Meghalaya and Assam-Arunachal fronts. But I don’t expect any immediate result on the Assam-Mizoram border. It will take some time,” Sarma added.

    Mizoram has a different perception of its boundary with Assam which is based on the British era notification of 1875.

    In a letter to the Assam CM, Aizawl Municipal Corporation councilor Rosiamngheta said the British government and the then Mizo chief Suakpuilala had in 1875 agreed to a point near river Dholai as the boundary between the two places. He said since then, the Mizos have accepted it and never heard of any other boundary.

    But in 1933, Rosiamngheta said the British government determined the Assam boundary again without the knowledge or consent of the Mizos.

    “In 1971, the NEARA Act re-identified the interstate boundary once again without the consent or knowledge of the Mizos. Much of Mizo land under British rule was included in Assam territory…

    “The boundary fixation of 1971 has never been accepted by the Mizo people. Assam has wrongly claimed possession over Mizo land by fore deal due to the Mizo yearning for peace and security,” the Mizoram councilor wrote to the Assam CM.

  • After ‘scam’, Congress asks Assam govt to re-examine Class 10, 12 exam valuation system

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Opposition Congress in Assam on Monday urged the state’s BJP-led government to re-examine the valuation system of Class X and XII state board exams.

    The appeal was made after the police unearthed a scam of awarding higher marks in lieu of money. Two persons were arrested from Kamrup district while four others were detained. The police said they would widen the scope of the probe following the suspicion that the racket had its links in other districts.

    Congress leader Debabrata Saikia insisted the entire matter be given due importance by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the state’s Education department.

    The party demanded the identification of all those associated with the fraud and punishment to them.

    “Keeping in mind the future of our students, the valuation system should be re-examined. Instead of valuation, we demand that a proper scientific system is adopted to take the students to the next level. I, therefore, request the Chief Minister to take proper corrective action and save the future of our children,” Saikia said.

    Earlier, the Congress had demanded that the state government follow the example of Karnataka and hold Class X and XII board exams by following Covid protocol, increasing the number of exam centres five to six times and using OMR Sheet for cutting down the time and a

  • Population control issue should be delinked from politics: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday called for delinking the population control issue from politics and adopting a realistic solution with emphasis on education, health, ending child marriage and financial inclusion to solve the problem among the minority community, particularly those residing in the Muslim-dominated districts of the state.

    It has been accepted by all members of the assembly that population increase among the minorities of Lower and Central Assam is a matter of concern, Sarma claimed during a discussion in the House initiated by opposition Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed on various issues related to the minority community of the ‘Char-Chaporis’ (sand bars areas).

    Opposition members who participated in the discussion said that using the issue politically would not solve the problem but asserted that there should not be a population control policy for Muslims alone.

    According to the 2011 Census, Muslims comprise 34.22 per cent of Assam’s total population of 3.12 crore and they are in majority in several districts.

    To bring down the population growth rate among the Muslims particularly those settled in the ‘Char-Chaporis’, Ahmed proposed establishing educational institutes, stopping child marriages, improving health and communication services, providing jobs in government and private sectors based on population representation and facilitating easy availability of birth control measures among women.

    The chief minister said that his government has no objection to the proposals, except those related to providing jobs as this has to be based on merit and not population representation.

    The House will adopt this resolution without any further debate on Tuesday, he said.

    “I am glad that this proposal has come from a Congress MLA.If it had come from me, people would have said I am doing politics.I thank the opposition member for initiating the discussion as our population policy is not anti-Muslim but anti-poverty,” Sarma said.

    The government has already planned to appoint 10,000 ASHA workers to distribute contraceptives among Muslim women and set up a population army of 1,000 youths to create awareness among the members of the community, Sarma said.

    The government is also deliberating on increasing the marriageable age of girls to check child marriages while it has initiated measures for expansion of educational institutions for girls and measures would be taken for improving health facilities, communication network and increased financial inclusion of women, he said.

    According to the census data of 2011, the population growth among the Muslims in the state has declined to 29 per cent from 34 per cent earlier while that among the Hindus has come down to 10 per cent from 19 per cent.

    Sarma said that with the decline in population growth of the Hindus in the state, there has been an improvement in their lifestyle and education level but, with a 29 per cent growth rate, the Muslims are currently in a state of crisis.

    “In recent times, we have seen that due to lack of living space, many people move to vacant lands, mostly in forest areas, out of compulsion and consequently come into conflict with the law.

    Migration to Kerala has also increased within the community and women are lured and forced into the flesh trade.

    “There is social tension within the community in Lower and Central Assam but we cannot blame the poor. If the growth rate decreases by another five to six per cent, there will be no problem,” he said.

    On Ahmed’s allegation that Bengal-speaking minority community members were not invited to the recent discussions that the CM held with members of indigenous Muslims, Sarma said that religion is the only factor common between them but they are different so far as their linguistic and cultural traditions are concerned.

    “We have decided to meet both the groups separately and we will hold discussions soon with the intellectuals and socially conscious people, not political persons, of the Muslim-dominated districts,” he said.

    He proposed that a seven-day study tour of the MLAs of Upper Assam to Lower and Central Assam and those from the latter areas to the former should be organised so that they understand the problems of each other.

    Earlier, Ahmed said that the population growth among the Muslims in the state is higher but there has been a fall in the fertility rate in the last 14 years from 3.6 per cent to 1.3 per cent while for the non-Muslims, it has dropped by only .4 per cent.

    Participating in the discussion, the Congress’ Jakir Hussain Sikdar said that the problem should be tackled with utmost sincerity.

    “There should be a strict law for population control but it should not be for Muslims only,” Sikdar said.

    AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam said the issue should not be used as a political weapon to target a particular community as it will demoralise people and the problem of underdevelopment will continue.

  • Assam bans mass gathering on Bakrid, asks Muslims to celebrate at home

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The Assam government on Monday asked the Muslims in the state to celebrate Eid-uz-Zuha at home.

    “Regarding celebration of Eid, all persons are to celebrate at home,” the state’s revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) read.

    It said a maximum of five people, including the religious head, would be allowed at a mosque for Eid Namaz. Eid-uz-Zuha or Bakrid will be celebrated on July 21.

    The government banned all meetings and gatherings. It said curfew “round the clock” would remain in force in five of the 34 districts such as Golaghat, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, and Biswanath.

    “The situation of Covid-19 in the state has been comprehensively reviewed and it was observed that though a few districts have shown improvement in the positivity rate, the number of active cases and positivity rate is still high in some districts,” the SOP stated.

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    It further read: “There will be total containment in the five districts showing high positivity rate in recent days and in the districts showing moderate positivity rate including Goalpara and Morigaon districts. The curfew will be from 1 pm to 5 am.”

    All workplaces, commercial establishments, shops, dealing in groceries, fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, animal fodder and restaurants, dhabas and other eateries, sale counters, showrooms, etc., of cold storages and warehouses, will be closed till further order in districts showing high positivity rate.

    They will be open up to 12 noon in districts showing moderate positivity rate and up to 4 pm in districts showing improvement in positivity rate. There will be a total ban on the movement of public and private transport in the total containment districts. However, the movement of goods shall continue.

    The government employees, who have taken at least one dose of the Covid vaccine, will have to attend office except in containment zones. The state on Sunday had recorded 1,329 new Covid cases, including 15 deaths.

  • Assam detention centres for declared ‘foreigners’ have 22 children, Assembly told

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Twenty-two children, 20 of them aged below 14 years, are lodged at three “detention centres” in Assam.

    They are the children of nine women who too are incarcerated. The detention centres house the declared foreigners.

    “Nine convicted women foreigners along with 22 children are presently lodged in three detention centres viz Kokrajhar, Silchar and Tezpur. Of the 22 children, two are above 14 years and 20 below 14 years,” Home Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the Chief Minister, told the Assembly replying to a query from Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed on Monday.

    The six detention centres in the state currently have 181 detenues, he said. Of them, 61 were declared foreign nationals while the remaining 120 others, who were convicted by the court and whose period of sentence was over, were awaiting deportation.

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    In deference to an order issued by the Supreme Court on May 10, 2019, altogether 273 detenues, who had spent more than three years in detention, were released on bail by the government. Subsequently, another 481 were released based on separate orders issued by the SC and the Gauhati High Court in April 2020.

    Replying to another query, Sarma said from December 23, 2009 to June 30 this year, 2,551 people, declared foreigners by various Foreigners’ Tribunals (FTs), were kept at the centres. He said 29 people died till date during detention due to various diseases.

    The first person to be kept at a detention centre was Krishna Biswas. He was sent to Goalpara detention centre on December 23, 2009.

    The cases of suspected foreigners are dealt with by the FTs. As on April 30 this year, they have disposed of 2,98,471 cases. Of them, 1,39,900 were declared as foreigners and 321 were repatriated. 

    From 1997-98 to April 30, 2021, altogether 1,36,386 cases of doubtful voters have been disposed of. Another 90,810 cases are pending, the Home Minister said.

  • Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma drives road roller to destroy 58,000 bottles of seized cough syrups

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday drove a road roller to destroy 58,000 bottles of seized cough syrups at Barhampur in Nagaon district. Following his act behind the steering wheel, he burnt heroin, opium and cannabis, worth Rs 36 crore.

    “The Last Rites of Drugs in Assam! In ‘seized drugs disposal’ program at Hojai today, 353.62 grams heroin, 736.73 kg ganja and 45,843 tablets have been destroyed,”Sarma tweeted after taking part in the last of four such programmes in the past two days.

    The Last Rites of Drugs in Assam!In ‘seized drugs disposal’ program at Hojai today, 353.62 grams heroin, 736.73 kg ganja and 45,843 tablets have been destroyed.MLAs @SibuMisra, @RKGhoshBJP, Sirajuddin Ajmal, Ex MLA Shiladitya Deb and @DGPAssamPolice were present. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Kb8Da1e1XV
    — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 18, 2021

    Speaking at Barhampur, he said the state government had adopted a zero tolerance policy against drugs and the police had been asked to aggressively step up measures against the menace. “I appreciate the relentless efforts of the police against drugs. We shall continue to work together against the scourge,” he said.

    The CM said destroying seized drugs, worth Rs 163.58 crore over the last two days, spoke volumes of how big this illegal trade is. “It involves evasion of GST and is a severe dent to economy. We’re working in coordination with Manipur and Mizoram to eliminate the menace,” Sarma said.

    He made it clear that the state would not be allowed to be used as a transit route for the psychotropic substances. DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said the contraband was disposed of by following all procedures. He warned that the police would not spare those dealing in drugs. “We arrested 20 ‘repeat offenders’. They were found committing the crime for the second time and are now behind bars,” Mahanta said.

    Giving an example of how alarming the situation is in Nagaon district, he said 1.5 lakh of its 20 lakh population is addicted to drugs. “The society has to be aware of the menace. The drug addicts are patients and we have to treat and reform them,” Mahanta added.