GUWAHATI: A government hoarding written in the Assamese language has stirred up a controversy in Barak valley of Assam once again. The hoarding was put up on November 24. On November 25, the Barak Democratic Front (BDF), led by Pradip Dutta Roy set a deadline of 48 hours to the District Administration for removing the hoarding and had threatened to take the matter into their hands if the Administration fails to do so.
Accordingly, the hoarding was removed on Friday, November 26.
Reacting sharply to the incident, General Secretary of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) Shankar Jyoti Baruah has appealed to the Assam government to arrest Pradip Dutta Roy at the earliest and also to take legal action against him.
“This is totally unacceptable. The government should have taken some strict steps regarding the matter. Pradip Dutta Roy had earlier also provoked unidentified miscreants to smear black ink on hoardings written in the Assamese language. No major steps were taken against him during that time, too, and hence, he dared again to set a deadline of 48 hours to remove the hoarding written in the Assamese language, which even had the Prime Minister’s photo on it,” Baruah told G Plus.
“The District Administration today morning removed the hoarding which is a big setback for the people of Assam. These incidents hamper the peace prevailing in the State. Pradip Dutta Roy is trying to divide the people of the Barak valley and the Brahmaputra Valley. He is just trying to become a hero and play politics and divide the Bangla speaking and the Assamese speaking people of the same State,” Baruah added.
“The Government is to be blamed for whatever is happening in the Barak valley. Since we cannot take the law into our hands, the Government should have taken legal action against Pradip Dutta Roy for trying to create communal tensions in the valley”, Baruah further added.
Further on October 19, unidentified miscreants allegedly smeared a Central government hoarding written in Assamese with black ink. They even wrote “Banglay Likhun” in the hoarding, insisting upon the use of Bangla language on government posters in Barak valley.
Speaking to a local media in Assam, Pradip Dutta Roy said, “If the hoarding is not taken down within 48 hours, the BDF will be bound to take the matter in our own hands”.
“Since section 5 of Assam Act XVIII, 1961 gives the Bengali language, the official language status in Barak valley, how can we consider an Assamese hoarding being put up in the valley,” Roy added.
