Assam opposition leader demands action against RSS workers

Leader of Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly Debabrata Saikia has sought the intervention of Union Minister Mahesh Sharma over the chanting of religious slogans by the RSS cadres at Kareng Ghar, an important historical monument, a few days ago.

Saikia referred to the fact that the RSS had recently organised a training session at Kareng Ghar, a historical monument dating back to the Ahom Kingdom, located in Upper Assam's Sivsagar district and protected by the ASI, a few days ago and said that it is a violation of set norms by the RSS cadres.

"Since the monument is one of the very few centrally protected monuments in Assam and a symbol of Assam's secular identity, there has been widespread reaction over the action of the RSS cadres," Saikia said in his letter sent to the Union Minister of Culture on Thursday.

He said that the monument had earlier been damaged by the British forces after 1826 and also subsequently due to natural calamities. "The monument is already in bad shape due to lack of maintenance and the act of the RSS workers had further damaged it," he said.

Saikia also requested the Union Minister to invoke Article 49 of the Constitution of India which has provided for Protection of Monuments and places of National importance and appealed him to initiate proper legal action against the action of the RSS workers.

--IANS

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