'PM Modi Lying About Detention Camps, Sanctioned Rs 46 Cr In 2018': Former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi

Tarun Gogoi on Friday said that Prime Minister is a 'liar' claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre had sanctioned Rs 46 crore for one in Assam's Goalpara district.

Gogoi also said the Congress government in Assam he had headed had set up detention camps in the state. (File Photo/ Getty)

Guwahati: Amid the ongoing debate over existence of detention camps in Assam and other parts of the country as claimed by Narendra Modi recently, former Assam CM and Congress leader Tarun Gogoi on Friday said that Prime Minister is a 'liar' claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre had sanctioned Rs 46 crore for one in Assam's Goalpara district. Further justifying his statement, Gogoi also said the Congress government in Assam he had headed had set up detention camps in the state as per a Gauhati High Court order. "Former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had suggested setting up detention camps for illegal immigrants," he said. "Modi is a liar", Gogoi said at a press conference here referring to a rally by the prime minister at the national capital in which he had said there is no detention camp in the country. "In 2018 the Narendra Modi government had sanctioned Rs 46 crore for constructing the largest detention centre at Matia in Goalpara district of Assam for housing 3,000 illegal immigrants. Suddenly he says there is no detention camp," Gogoi said.

Moreover, it was also suggested by the then BJP Government to all the concerned State Governments and UT's regarding this sensitive issue and content of the various correspondence between the Centre and State Governments is uploaded. https://t.co/zb7HmZGcK9 pic.twitter.com/tlw8SA1pn9

— Tarun Gogoi (@tarun_gogoi) December 27, 2019

"Why did the BJP government in 2018 sanction Rs 46 crore? This shows Modi is a liar", Gogoi asserted. He said the Congress government which he helmed in the state had set up detention camps in Assam as per the directions of the Gauhati High Court in 2008. "They (BJP) say these (detention) camps were set up by the Congress. We set them up as per the order of the High Court to detain people who were declared 'foreigners' by the Foreigners' Tribunal," he added. Gogoi had led three consecutive governments in the state from 2001 to 2016. While addressing a rally in the national capital earlier this week, PM Modi had denied existence of any detention camps in the country. On the NRC, Modi sought to allay apprehensions, especially among Muslims, saying his government has never discussed it since coming to power for the first time in 2014. "It has been discussed neither in Parliament nor in the Cabinet," he added. "Since my government first came to power in 2014, I want to tell 130 crore countrymen, there has never been a discussion on this NRC," he said, noting that it was done only in Assam due to a Supreme Court order. Several Union ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah, have often pitched for a nationwide National Register of Citizens exercise, with Shah telling Parliament recently that it will be carried out. The government has, however, issued no communication about it. PM Modi used the big rally, held to "thank him" for the Centre's decision to give ownership rights to residents of unauthorised colonies in poll-bound Delhi, to counter criticism over the Citizenship Amendment Act as he condemned incidents of violence during the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed NRC, lauded the police and slammed Pakistan for discrimination against minorities. (With inputs from agencies)