Thursday, February 23 2006 15:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Guwahati: Criticising the recent amendment to the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 1964, as Centre's attempt to alienate Assam, the All Assam Students Union (AASU) today (Feb 23 2006) warned that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be responsible "for any unrests here against the move" as he represented the state in Parliament.

Talking to sources here, AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya warned, "no mechanism will be accepted for protecting the illegal Bangladeshis here and the Centre's attempt to push Assam out of the country."

The Centre on February 10 amended the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 1964 by an order called the 'Foreigners (Tribunal) Amendment Order, 2006'. As per the Order, it was applicable only to Assam and not to the rest of the country.

"We want a uniform act for the whole country. But now a separate Act and Order is only applicable to Assam and not elsewhere in the country. This is a very serious matter and a conspiracy to alienate the people of Assam", Bhattacharya alleged.

"The Centre talks about wanting Assam to come to the mainstream. Is this Order an attempt to bring us to the mainstream?" he quipped.

Warning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, as the representative of Assam in Parliament would be responsible for any reaction to the Order, the AASU leader feared, "if the illegal Bangladeshis continued to be protected then Assam will become a part of greater Bangladesh."

"Within ten years a Bangladeshi Chief Minister will be in charge of Assam at this rate if infiltration continues. Al-quaeda and Pakistani ISI operating here will be protected then and the situation here will be worse than in Jammu and Kashmir," he asserted.