Friday, April 7 2006 14:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ahmedabad: Senior BJP leader L K Advani today (Apr 7, 2006) said the statements made by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on illegal migration from Bangladesh to Assam are 'dishonest, misleading and hypocritical pronouncements' of these two leaders.

Addressing a press meet here on the second day of his 'Bharat Suraksha Yatra', Advani said, "If Gandhi says that there can be no compromise on the issue of illegal foreigners in Assam, I would like to ask her and Singh, what steps have you taken to show that you are not compromising on the issue?"

Advani said he wanted to know whether the issue was raised during their meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

He also alleged that amendment brought in Foreigners' (Tribunal) Order was an attempt by the UPA government to provide another legal protection to Bangladeshi infiltrators, after the Supreme Court scrapped the Illegal Migration (Determination by Tribunal) Act.

He further expressed that, "Assam is facing external aggression and nation is facing the threat of another partition due to illegal immigration."

When asked what did the NDA government did to confront the issue he said, "We faced opposition from state government to deal effectively with the issue."

Speaking on NDA government's actions to stop terrorist activities in the country, he said they used to burst 50 to 60 ISI modules in the country every year while in 2005 the present government has just busted 15 ISI modules.

He evaded comment on BJP's stand on government proposal on reservations in educational institutions.