Oust Assam governor within a month, demands Congress

Guwahati: The Congress' Assam unit on Thursday served a one-month ultimatum to the Centre to remove Governor P.B. Acharya over his comment "Hindustan is for Hindus", just days after a similar demand by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Anjan Dutta told reporters at the party headquarters here that they would protest outside Raj Bhavan every day if the central government does not remove Acharya within the stipulated time.

"We are going to stage protests every day outside Raj Bhavan if the governor is not removed within a month. About 10,000 Congress workers will stage a protest in Guwahati on Friday against the divisive politics of Governor Acharya," Dutta said.

Nagaland Governor Acharya, who has also been holding additional charge of Assam since last year has, however, clarified that persecuted Hindus across the world have a right to come to India and it was the duty of Indians to receive and welcome them.

Dutta, meanwhile, also slammed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the centre and asked why it has failed to table a legislation for granting refugee status or citizenship to Hindu Bengalis staying in Assam.

"The BJP had claimed that it will grant citizenship/refugee status to Hindu Bengalis staying in Assam. However, no bill regarding this is slated to be introduced during the winter session of parliament which started today (Thursday). For granting citizenship, amendment has to be made in the Foreigners Act," he said.

The Assam government had moved the Centre to frame a policy for granting asylum to people who fled religious persecution and discrimination and had taken refuge in India during partition.

Gogoi had submitted a memorandum to then prime minister Manmohan Singh in April 2012, pleading that Indian citizens who had to flee due to religious persecution should not be treated as foreigners on humanitarian grounds.

Dutta said the Hindu Bengalis -- who had moved towards the BJP earlier -- were now moving away after they realised that the BJP was just telling lies.

The state Congress president added that the party will put up candidates in all the 126 constituencies in next year's assembly polls.