The minority cell of the ruling Congress defended Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi by challenging Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind to dare overthrow the state government after six months. Its convener Imran Shah flayed national president of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind Maulana Asad Madani for publicly humiliating  Mr Gogoi at the outfit's rally.

The Jamiat's president had served a six-month ultimatum to the government to fulfil its 18 point demands, failing which, the
religious body said it would 'dethrone' the government. Mr Shah challenged Jamiat for a showdown with the Congress in the 2006 assembly polls. ''Let Jamiat mobilise all its strength against us in the next elections. We will show them their real standing in Assam,'' he said.

Mr Shah wondered how a non-political religious outfit like the Jamiat could demand seats for its leaders in the Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha and the assembly. ''If Jamiat was so powerful here, Madani's son Mehmood could have won the Dhubri assembly seat in 2001 when Jamiat was backed by the Samajwadi Party.'' Reminding the commitment of the government to the socio-economic development of the minority, Mr Shah said against Rs 112.02 lakhs sanctioned for Assam Minority Development Board by the previous AGP government, the Congress government had already sanctioned Rs 156.28 lakhs between 2002-05. He also announced the state government's decision to rehabilitate 500 families, who were victims of riots in Kokrajhar, by this year claiming that Jamiat had hardly any base among the 80 lakh Muslims in the state.

Regarding Illegal Migrants Determination Tribunal act, 1983, Mr Shah said, ''we are not against detection and deportation of
illegal migrants who had settled here after March 25,1971. But at the same time we want IMDT to continue to help avoid harassment of original citizens of Assam in the process of detection.''

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