Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today alleged that
he was under pressure from the then-BJP-led Central government to continue ‘secret
killings’ in Assam, after he had taken over reigns of power in the state from Prafulla
Kumar Mahanta-led Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government in 2001.
Addressing a press conference here, Gogoi said, “The secret killings in Assam
happened when Mahanta was in power. The BJP was in power in the Centre then;
and now, Mahanta says that he did it (secret killings) on instructions of the BJP.”
“When I took over (following Congress’ victory in 2001 state polls), the BJP wanted
the secret killings to continue and Advani (then-Union Home minister) had wanted to
send KPS Gill as the governor for this reason,” he said.
Gogoi claimed that he resisted Gill’s appointment as Assam’s governor, citing that
Gill was a former Indian Police Service officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre and had
served long years in the state.
“We were pressurized to continue the secret killings,” Gogoi added, referring to the
extra-judicial killings in the state in the late 1990s in which masked gunmen had
targeted and killed kin of ULFA leaders.
The former three-time CM further claimed that the BJP government had called him
‘soft’ for refusing to allow killing of innocent civilians.
Further targeting Mahanta, who had led two AGP governments in the state, Gogoi
said the Assam Agitation leaders, among whom Mahanta was in the fore, had refused
to accept the year 1967 as deadline for detection of foreigners in the state, which was
offered by then-PM late Indira Gandhi in 1980 to the Agitation leaders.
He said, “The leaders, including Mahanta, refused to accept 1967 as cut-off year in
1980; and in 1985, they accepted 1971 as the cut-off year. Had they accepted the first
proposal, the 855 people who lost their lives during the Agitation would have lived.”
Responding to Mahanta’s recent allegation that the Agitation leaders were forced to
accept 1971 as cut-off year when the Assam Accord was signed in 1985 with then-PM
late Rajiv Gandhi, Gogoi said, “If Mahanta was indeed forced to accept the cut-off year
even after leading a mass movement, it would mean he is a spineless person. Also,
why did he wait to speak out about the issue till 2019 whereas the Accord was signed
in 1985?”
Rubbishing Mahanta’s assertion that Congress was responsible for the death of the
855 martyrs of Assam Agitation, Gogoi questioned why Mahanta, who came to power
in 1986, did not order an enquiry committee to probe against the Congress.
Gogoi also took a dig at the AGP, questioning its silence even after BJP national
president Amit Shah announced in Assam two days back that the party will bring the
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, if it retains power in the forthcoming General Elections.
Though the AGP had pulled out of the BJP-led coalition government in the state over
the Bill in January, the party’s failure to react afterwards indicates to a tactical
understanding between the two sides, he alleged.
Gogoi also maintained that the AGP and the BJP will contest the Lok Sabha elections
together, which will lead to the BJP’s gain.
