Guwahati: In view of countrywide alert against the ISIS, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday claimed that Islamic militant group ISIS has not been able to make significant inroads into the state that has a sizeable Muslim population.
Gogoi said that though the threat from ISIS exists everywhere, the group so far had failed to strike roots in the state which, of course, can’t be a reason for the security forces to become complacent.
Pointing out that ISIS was using social media in its attempt to radicalize youth with its doctrines, Gogoi said close watch was being kept at all levels to ensure that the group was not able to penetrate the state.
He also underlined that youth of the country, who have been radicalized by the ISIS, had to be made to see reason and return to the mainstream.
The Director General of Assam Police, Mukesh Sahay sounded an alarm over the growing threat of ISIS in different fronts and use of social media to recruit vulnerable youth to its ranks.
Assam stands vulnerable to threat from radical groups like the ISIS because of presence of a large pool of unemployed youth from the backward Muslim community.
The state has witnessed rising activities of jihadi elements in the recent years.
Several training dens of jihadis were busted in western Assam in the last couple of years following dismantling of JMB modules in neighbouring West Bengal by Indian security agencies including the NIA.
A number of leaders and cadres of various Islamic fundamentalist groups were arrested in the state in the last couple of years.
Gogoi flays Centre’s attempt to impose Prez Rule in Arunachal
The Assam chief minister also termed the Union Cabinet’s recommendation for President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh as ‘gross violation of the Constitution and cooperative federalism’.
Gogoi on Monday said, “The Union Cabinet’s recommendation for President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh is a gross violation of the Constitution. It is against the cooperative federalism of the country and is detrimental to Centre-state relationship.”
He said given that a case regarding the political turmoil in the frontier state was pending before a Constitution Bench in the Supreme Court, it was ‘unfortunate’ that the Union Cabinet did not wait for the court’s verdict before making such a recommendation. Gogoi said there was no urgency in imposing President’s Rule in the state since there was ‘no break down of law and order in Arunachal Pradesh till date’.
“I don’t think it was an appropriate decision. It shows the dictatorial attitude of the Narendra Modi government,” Gogoi added reiterating his stand that incumbent governors of some states, like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Tripura who have been appointed since the BJP government came to power in the Centre, were behaving like RSS pracharaks.
