Tea Board Chairman Prabhat Kamal Bezbaruah speaking at the RSS function in Hojai. Kishalaya Dev Goswami
Many quarters, including a section of the media, might dislike the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), but it is the RSS that can bring about Hindu unity in order to help take the country forward, Prabhat Kamal Bezbaruah, the newly appointed chairman of the Tea Board, said here on Sunday. He also called for disenfranchising Bangladeshi infiltrators to “resist the demographic invasion” in Assam.
Bezbaruah, a tea planter, was named Tea Board chairman on May 5. He was attending a training camp here for RSS volunteers from Assam, Nagaland and Meghalaya. Hojai in central Assam, about 140 km from Guwahati, is where the RSS has its most important training centre in the Northeastern region.
Speaking as the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the 20-day camp, Bezbaruah said, “We did not have Hindu unity. That is why we were ruled by Muslim nawabs and kings for about 1,000 years and for about 200 years by the British.”
Expressing concern over a demographic change brought about by settlers from another country, Bezbaruah suggested disenfranchisement of these settlers. “A serious demographic change is occurring in Assam because of infiltration. These infiltrators will eat up Assam and its people. The only way to stop this is to disenfranchise these people. Because, if Assam is lost, the other Northeastern states will also suffer,” he said.
“Our state is now full of foreigners. They will become a majority in the next two or three decades if we do not awaken the people. We have to resist this demographic invasion,” Bezbaruah said. Bezbaruah claimed that for nearly 70 years, successive governments could not bring about a sense of pride for the nation among the people. “People should have pride in the nation. I hope a patriotic government will be able to instill this sense of pride among citizens in the next three years,” he said.
Recalling how Assam was sought to be included in East Pakistan during Partition, Bezbaruah said Assam and present-day Northeast would have become part of East Pakistan but for the efforts of Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi. “Nehru had almost agreed to the inclusion of Assam in East Pakistan but for the efforts of Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi. That was indeed a victory, but that victory would be lost if we cannot awaken the people against infiltration,” he said.
Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/tea-board-chief-says-only-rss-can-unite-hindus-4655967/