Asom govt slams AUDF for ''communalising'' refugee problem

Guwahati, Apr 1 (UNI) The Asom government today came down heavily on the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF) alleging that the latter was ''communalising'' the refugee issue in lower Asom to gain political mileage ahead of the state panchayat polls.

Addressing a press meet here, state Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma said, ''The AUDF had brought Mr Madani, All India Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind President to visit the refugees in Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar camps. But Mr Madani visited only Muslim camps and not the camps which housed Hindu and Christian families''.

He pointed out that the AUDF leadership, including its chief Badaruddin Ajmal, took Mr Madani to visit only the Muslim refugees, adding that it smacked of the AUDF's intentions of drawing political mileage from the issue by ''fanning'' communal sentiments.

''There are about 12,000 Hindu and Christian refugees in the camps in Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar. But the AUDF is concerned only about the 17,000 Muslim refugees,'' he added.

Mr Sharma also cited various figures which indicated that the number of families of other religions rendered homeless by the communal clashes in Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar during the last decade was much more than the Muslim families.

''The refugee problem there is clearly not a minority related issue as the AUDF is trying to make it,'' he added.

He said about 50,000 of the total 70,000 families which had taken refuge in the camps had been rehabilitated over the years.

''A group of ministers had been formed on March 27 to monitor the rehabilitation of the 20,000 families still in the camps,'' the Minister said.

UNI