Assam has to learn from Israel on how to survive when surrounded by enemies: Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday that the state has to draw lessons from Israel on surviving even when surrounded by adversaries.Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme to mark 'Swahid Diwas' at Jamugurihat in Sonitpur district, Sarma said Assam's boundaries were never safe. 'Swahid Diwas' commemorates the death of Khargeswar Talukdar, considered the first "martyr" of the six-year-long Assam Agitation, which had ended with the signing of the Assam Accord on August 15, 1985.Addressing a programme organised by Bharatiya Janata Yuba Morcha on the occasion, Sarma said that even after nearly 40 years since the Accord, the "threat" from outsiders has not disappeared.He claimed that while political safeguards have been ensured for the next few years through the delimitation exercise, the people must strive for economic self-reliance to keep the state from going away into the hands of "unknown people". And we are doing it with all our might," he asserted.Sarma said about 10,000 hectares of land, equal to the area of Chandigarh, has been cleared from encroachment in the last three years.He said that while the political objective of the Assam Agitation was to drive out infiltrators, its economic aim was achieving financial self-reliance and the youth has the most crucial role to play in this regard. Assamese people no longer support bandh, dharna, picketing, they support the 'andolan' which will force these unknown people out," Sarma asserted.The CM maintained that the delimitation of constituencies has ensured political protection for "some years" and this time has to be used to ensure protection of cultural and economic identity.He said the government is also working on safeguarding cultural identity.