By IANS,
New Delhi : An adjournment motion moved by the BJP over the government’s failure to check illegal infiltration and ethnic violence in Assam was defeated by voice vote in the Lok Sabha Wednesday.
Speaker Meira Kumar put the motion to vote after Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L.K. Advani refused to accept Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s reply and pressed for a vote.
Assuring the house after a three-hour debate, Shinde said the army was on alert and the government would not shy from deploying it if the situation in the northeastern state so demanded.
“We will take action if the situation demands,” said Shinde.
He added that the Central Bureau of Investigation would probe cases where a conspiracy is suspected behind recent incidents of violence in Assam.
During the debate, Advani termed the violence in Assam as unprecedented and blamed the central government for the displacement of over three to four lakh people as well as the influx of Bangladeshis across the porous border.
“The root of the problem is the infiltration taking place from Bangladesh for many years… It is a problem not just for Assam but for the whole of India. This should be recognized,” he said.
Shinde condemned the violence in Assam and said the central government had given all help to the state to handle the situation.
“The government strongly condemns the act of depredation in Assam. Leaders from both communities have been asked to intervene” to restore normalcy, Shinde said.
Over 70 people were killed and many thousands displaced in Assam following violence between Bodo tribals and Bengali speaking Muslims, said to be Bangladeshis.