Assam NRC issue: TMC leaders stopped at Silchar airport, arrested

Lawmakers of Trinamool Congress sent to take a stock of the ground realities in Assam, have been stopped at Silchar airport on Thursday. The TMC leaders have called this a situation of ‘super emergency’. The eight-member team, comprising of legislators and parliamentarians from West Bengal, was supposed to address rallies in Assam on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) issue.

Sharing concerns over the NRC report, West Bengal Chief Minister had a verbal disagreement with BJP president Amit Shah since last couple of days. Earlier, the party had announced on Tuesday that a delegation will be visiting Assam for NRC on August 2-3. The team comprises of six MPs (Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Ratna De Nag, Nadimul Haque, Arpita Ghosh and Mamata Thakur) and State Minister Firhad Hakim and Mahua Moitra, MLA.

Now with the MPs being detained at the airport for hours, TMC leaders have taken an offence to this incident and called this a ‘super emergency’. The women leaders have alleged that they were pushed and shoved by the security personnel.

Asked about reasons for not letting the parliamentarians to step out of airport, the security officials handed them a ‘piece of paper’, stating that large gatherings were banned in the district from last night. Leading the delegation, TMC MP of Rajya Sabha, Sukhendu Shekhar Roy said, “Nothing in this paper tells me why I can’t go into town.”

Angry with the way TMC leaders were manhandled at the Silchar airport, another parliamentarian Derek O’Brien said, “Our members were roughed up. Sukhendu Shekhar Roy has a pacemaker, he was also roughed up. Our delegation was detained at Silchar airport. It is our democratic right to meet people, this is a super emergency like situation,” the TMC leader added.

Miffed with the high handedness, TMC supremo stated that the ruling party (BJP) leaders are out of minds fearing their ouster. She alleged that due to this reason they are not allowing the people to know the realities of NRC report. Speaking to the reporters in New Delhi, she said, “These atrocities aren’t only being condemned, I think this is beginning of the end. They are frustrated, politically tensed and depressed. That’s why they are showing muscle power.”

According to the initial reports, few leaders have been arrested, but their names have not been revealed as of yet. The TMC is in disagreement with the NRC report, which claims that 40.07 lakh people will have to prove their identity within a month or will face action. However, the Supreme Court had Assam Citizens’ list is just a draft and there should be no action on those who have been left out.

Despite TMC crying the manhandling and arrest of the leader, the Assam Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia said no one has been arrested.