The appointment of a Bangladeshi diplomat’s wife to a top post by Topcem Cement has sparked massive reaction in Assam.
Topcem Cement has appointed Munera Azam, wife of Shah Mohammad Tanvir Mansur, Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner to Guwahati, as its senior manager, marketing & sales.
According to a source, the wife of the Bangladeshi diplomat has been working in Guwahati since last March.
Expressing serious concern over the development, Congress leader Bobbeeta Sharma asked on what basis Topcem Cement appointed a foreigner to a top position.
“How can a foreigner get a job in the top position of Topcem Cement? She will need a work permit. Suddenly she can’t work here. The Union home ministry should monitor whether she has been given a visa to work here?” Sharma told Northeast Now.
She also mentioned that an indigenous well-educated youth from the region should be appointed here.
“On what basis did a foreigner appoint to this post? Don’t we have any qualified people here? As the wife of a high-ranking official, it would not make sense for her to work in India. If she wants to do the job then she has to do it in Bangladesh,” Sharma said.
Mira Barthakur, leader of the newly floated party, Anchalik Gana Morcha, also condemned the action of Topcem Cement, which had deprived the local youths.
“If the BJP government remains in power for long, people of Bangladeshi origin will continue to come to Assam and make us work like slaves,” said Barthakur.
Rubul Das, the convener of the Raijor Dal, also expressed strong opposition to Topcem Cement’s action.
“It is clear that this government loves Bangladeshis. Therefore, even after the wife of a Bangladeshi diplomat has worked in a private company, they have not been able to take any action against such a move,” Das said.
He demanded the government that action be taken against the woman and that she be arrested as soon as possible.
Debabrata Saikia, general secretary of Chatra Mukti Sangma Samiti (CMSS), said, “It was a matter of shame for the people of Assam that the wife of a Bangladeshi diplomat has been allowed to work here despite having hundreds of highly qualified unemployed youths in the state.”
He said that Topcem Cement was running its business in Assam but paying very little taxes.
“They are cheating the people of Assam by selling cement at high rates in Assam,” Saikia said.