Guwahati (Assam) [India], March 15 : Former Rajya Sabha member and Senior Congress leader Ripun Bora on Saturday refuted Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks, where he recalled his detention during Hiteshwar Saikia's tenure as Assam Chief Minister
Speaking to ANI, Bora said that if what Amit Shah said was done, it was only to protect law and order at that time.
"It was done only to protect law and order. Nobody is above the law, and it will always take its own course. When somebody takes law and order into his hands, the law will definitely take action. That time which Amit Shah ji mentioned, it was a volatile situation in Assam. There was anarchy in the state, and if our government did something, it was only to maintain peace and tranquillity in Assam," the Congress leader said.
"Why Amit Shah forgot that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was arrested by the Jana Party government. She was put in jail. Why has he forgotten these things? What Amit Shah said is irrelevant. He has deliberately said it to get sympathy, but these will not serve any political purpose," Ripun Bora said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that during the Congress government in Assam, he was beaten up and had jail food for seven days in the state.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of Lachit Barphukan Police Academy in Dergaon, Shah attacked Congress and said that the Congress did not allow peace in Assam.
"I have also been beaten up by the Congress government in Assam. Hiteshwar Saikia was the Chief Minister of Assam and we used to raise slogans against former PM Indira Gandhi that 'Assam ki gaaliyan suni hai, Indira Gandhi khooni hai'. I, too, had jail food for seven days in Assam, and people from all over the country came to save Assam. Today Assam is moving ahead on the path of development," Shah said.
Hiteswar Saikia served as the Chief Minister of Assam for two terms, from 1983 to 1985 and then from 1991 to 1996.