GUWAHATI, March 26: Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, continuing his marathon election campaign trail in poll-bound Assam, on Friday pledged that the BJP would bring laws against “land jihad” and “love jihad” if it retained power in the state.
Addressing a largely-attended rally at Kamalpur in Kamrup district, Shah pledged to protect the culture, civilisation and identity of Assam, while promising, “We will bring laws against land jihad and love jihad, a commitment which has been referred to in the BJP “Sankalpa Patra” released recently.”
‘Love jihad’ is referred to the relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women, with the former alleged (by sections) to seduce Hindu women and lure them into marriage with an intention to convert them to Islam.
‘Land jihad’, on the other hand, is the illegal encroachment of land owned by indigenous people.
Lashing out at the Congress-AIUDF alliance, Shah reiterated that a government led by such an alliance “can never save Assam from illegal infiltrators.” “So how can you vote for such an alliance?” he asked those present at the rally.
Claiming that the BJP-led government has taken several steps against illegal infiltration over the past five years, he said, “Give us another five years, we will make the state completely free from illegal infiltration.”
Further slamming the Congress leadership, he said, “Rahul Gandhi comes to Assam like a tourist. Rahul baba says that (AIUDF president) Badruddin Ajmal is the identity of Assam…But he does not know that the Srimanta Sankardev, Srimanta Madhabdev, Bhupen Hazarika and Ahom general Lachit Barphukan, who defeated the Mughal army to protect Assam, are the identity of Assam,” the Union home minister said.
“Today, the country is proud of Assam culture, civilisation and language. The BJP-led government has also conferred the prestigious Bharat Ratna on Bhupen Hazarika,” he added.
Shah further alleged that the Congress has been responsible for separatism and militancy in the state. “But under BJP rule, over 2,000 insurgents have laid down arms to return to the mainstream recently. After the Bodo peace pact, peace has returned to Bodoland,” he added.
“The BJP has made Assam agitation-free, curfew-free and insurgency-free. Give us your mandate for another five years, we will make the state free from floods and erosion. Over the past five years, we have taken several steps for the state’s development,” he claimed.
Kick-starting the second-phase poll campaign in Assam, Shah, along with the rally at Kamalpur, addressed three other rallies on Friday.
After Kamlapur, he addressed a rally at Jagiroad in Morigaon district, where the party has fielded state minister and incumbent MLA, Pijush Hazarika, besides attending two other rallies at Patharkandi and Silchar in Barak Valley.