Guwahati: The union cabinet’s decision to ratify the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh has triggered sharp reactions in Assam from groups opposed to it including All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) both describing the BJP and Congress as two sides of the same coin regarding burning issues related to Assam.
“There is hardly any difference between national parties like BJP and Congress regarding burning problems of Assam. While the Congress-led UPA government had signed the land boundary agreement in 2011 without taking the people of Assam into confidence, the BJP only made false promise to keep Assam out of the land exchange only to get votes during the 2014 Lok Sabha election,” said AGP president Atul Bora.
The AASU staged protests in all district headquarters and also burnt copies of the Land Boundary Agreement. It also hit out at Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi for pressing the Centre not to exclude Assam from the process. Gogoi, maintained that Assam would gain from the settlement of the long-pending issue.
“The Assam BJP’s stand has all along been to keep the state out of the amendment because the people in the state do not want to be part with even an inch of land,” said state BJP president Siddhartha Bhattacharyya.
There are as many as 25 points along the 4,156-km long India-Bangladesh boundary, of which India adversely possesses 1,165.49 acres of Bangladesh land, while Bangladesh possesses 1,880.81 acres on the Indian side.
Bangladesh is in adverse possession of 665 acres of land in the Assam sector including about 160 acres in Dhubri district, and two plots of 360 acres and 145 acres in Karimganj district. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi had clarified that as per the land boundary pact Bangladesh would get 193 acres of adversely possessed land at Boroibari in Mankachar sector of Dhubri district and 74.5 acres land at 455 acre Pallathat Tea Estate in Karimganj district.
The Government of India rejected Bangladesh’s claim over 145 acres of adversely possessed land at Naygaon in Karimganj district and they have accepted it. In case of 714 acres undemarcated area in Latitila-Dumabari in Karimganj district, dispute was resolved regarding over 3 kilometer stretch of unfenced border and Bangladesh will get only 90 acres of the area.
