Vowing to deliver on a decade-old pledge, Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday declared that the BJP would make Assam and the rest of India free of infiltrators, asserting that the promise remained central to the party’s vision for the nation.
Speaking in Guwahati at a programme commemorating the birth centenary of Golap Borbora, Assam’s first non-Congress Chief Minister, Shah linked the Modi government’s newly announced demography mission to the state’s historical struggle against illegal immigration. The mission, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day, aims to study demographic patterns across India with an eye on identifying infiltrators.
“We had made a promise to Assam, but we have not been able to fulfil it in 10 years. But we will keep our promise and make Assam and the entire country free of illegal foreigners,” Shah said, adding with emphasis, “I am among those people who believe that not a single infiltrator should stay in our country.”
The Home Minister invoked Borbora’s legacy, recalling his efforts during the Janata Party government of the late 1970s to cleanse electoral rolls. “Even in the absence of computerised electoral rolls, Borbora’s government detected names of 36,780 illegal foreigners, and this cleansing of the voters’ list can be deemed as the origin of the Assam Agitation,” he observed.
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Shah criticised parties opposing the current Special Summary Revision (SIR) exercise of the Election Commission. “The Election Commission is cleansing the voters’ list through the SIR now, but some parties are opposing it. It shows the moral degradation in today’s politics,” he remarked. He further asserted that Borbora, had he been alive, would have stood against such opposition.
The Home Minister praised the Assam government under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for its actions against infiltrators, particularly eviction drives targeting encroachment, and for honouring Borbora’s memory despite his lack of links with the BJP.
“It is a trait of the Modi government to recognise contributions of all,” Shah said, citing the recognition of leaders such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose through landmark memorials.
Paying tribute to Borbora’s brief yet impactful tenure, Shah highlighted his welfare-driven decisions: “Free education till class 10, waiver of ‘lagaan’ for up to 10 bigha of land, opening of passport office in Guwahati, and setting up of banking and railway recruitment boards in the state are among the notable decisions of his government.”
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