By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Co-ordination Committee on International Border (CCIB), a conglomeration of NGOs, land owners and the traditional heads of the State shot off a letter to Union External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday, urging the Centre to hold the tabling of Land Swap Deal until fresh survey is conducted along the International border.
Expressing stiff opposition to the Indo-Bangla Land Swap Deal-2011, the CCIB in a letter faxed to the Union Minister demanded that proper verification of border alignment be done and local population be consulted with before the bill is tabled.
The CCIB said that the boundary pillars erected along the Indo-Bangla border were in favour of Bangladesh and there is a huge loss of land from Meghalaya sector of India.
According to the CCIB, the present case of realignment and demarcation of the boundary was done without proper consultation with the local population and the Border Committee constituted by the Government of Meghalaya (CCIB-F) in 2008.
“Any decisions of the Joint Boundary Working Group will not be accepted by all concerned and the Centre must consider the proper identification of Zero line on priority basis before demarcation is carried out,” the letter added.
CCIB spokesperson GH Kharshanlor also said that as of now the number of adverse possession of land held by India in Meghalaya sector is 9 (559.70 acres) and that held by Bangladesh is 2 ( 52 .15 acres ) and if the Government finalises the border dispute based on the Protocol of Land Swap Deal 2011, Bangladesh will gain a huge quantity of land. However, the local indigenous people will be at a loss and this will have long term effects socially, economically, culturally and politically.
“The Swap deal also involves the swapping of the population of those areas and the local indigenous people of Meghalaya will never accept this intention of the Government as this will directly affect the demographic structure of the State,” the CCIB added.
It may be mentioned that the Protocol Agreement over the Land Swap Deal was signed by Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh in Dhaka in 2011 and the deal is set to be tabled in the current Budget Session of the Parliament in New Delhi.
According to the Land Swao Deal, India is going to lose about 10,000 acres of land to Bangladesh.