BJP MLA Padma Hazarika on Sunday said the March 24, 1971 deadline in the Assam Accord for detecting and deporting illegal immigrants should be respected and not changed at any cost.
Addressing a party workers' meeting at his Sootea constituency in Sonitpur district, Hazarika said he would not accept the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which favoured changing the deadline to December 31, 2014 for all non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to become Indian citizens.
When contacted, Hazarika told PTI, "It was a party meeting to felicitate the winners in the panchayat election. Some people wanted to know my views on the current situation. As I was an active member of the Assam Movement, which gave the Assam Accord, I will not want that pact to be violated."
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