Meghalaya stands to gain immensely: Wansuk Syiem
NEW DELHI: After several years and change of Governments in both the countries Parliament on Wednesday sealed the litigious Indo-Bangladesh land boundary bill since the BJP led NDA Government made an U turn and included Assam to facilitate Prime Minister, Modi’s next visit to Dhaka.
In a rare display of bonhomie and unanimity which preceded penchant criticism the Rajya Sabha cleared the Constitution amendment bill to enable the ratification of Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh. Even as discord between the Opposition and the Government marked earlier in the day in the Lok Sabha, there was complete agreement in the Upper House, where the Bill was passed with a historic unanimity, with 180 members giving their nod to the Bill hanging fire since 1974.
The lone Rajya Sabha Member from Meghalaya, Wansuk Syiem said that ultimately the ruling BJP saw the logic and included Assam in the bill as originally done by the Congress led UPA Government in 2011. The draft agreement was signed during Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh’s visit who for the first time took all the bordering state Chief Ministers of North East including Dr Mukul Sangma with him to Dhaka.
“Meghalaya stands to gain immensely by getting a large tract of territories in areas like Pyrdiwah, Lyngkhat, Dawki, Tambail and Nalguri with 240.78 acres of land,” she said. These areas otherwise used to witness violent border clashes which took many lives and created a bitter feeling in the otherwise peaceful frontier areas.
The Opposition in general was lavish in its praise for Swaraj for her “honest” admission of presenting a Bill that was introduced by the UPA and opposed by the BJP, TMC and the AGP. Earlier while presenting the Bill, Swaraj said her party was opposed to the Bill when it was introduced in Parliament in December 2013, because the BJP was of the view that the Bill had not taken Assam’s views into consideration.
The External Affairs Minister admitted on the floor of the House and clarified that the BJP had initially decided to go ahead with the agreement, leaving Assam out of the ambit of the bill. But the government changed its views after subsequent meetings with leaders from other political parties who wanted Assam to be included, she said.
Wansuk said that the Government was aware that it cannot get a Constitution amendment bill passed in the Rajya Sabha without Congress support and hence the BJP-led NDA government has accepted the principal opposition party Congress’s demand that enclaves in Assam also be included in the Bill.” I am happy that the Government ultimately heeded to our wise counsel,” she added.
Congress young spokesman and son of Assam Chief Minister Gaurav Gogoi said that the Government brought the bill in the same manner as UPA had framed it. Now we are happy because it is our own bill, he said. When it comes to foreign policy, India is one whole, not the sum of its parts, Wansuk pointed out. Government’s initial plans to introduce a Constitutional amendment in Parliament but not for Assam could have set an unwholesome precedent, she added.
Being a border state between Assam and Bangladesh, Meghalaya has its own security concerns, Wansuk said. There are many vulnerable points mainly in Garo hill regions and any agreement excluding Assam would have put Meghalya into deep problems, she added.
The 2011 Protocol will result in a fixed demarcated boundary in all the un-demarcated segments, exchange of 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh with 51 Bangladesh enclaves in India and a resolution of all adversely possessed areas. In the exchange of enclaves, India will transfer 111 enclaves with a total area of 17,160.63 acres to Bangladesh, while Bangladesh would transfer 51 enclaves with an area of 7,110.02 acres to India. While the exchange of enclaves between India and Bangladesh may seem like a loss of Indian land to Bangladesh, the actual scenario is quite different as the enclaves are located deep inside the territory of both countries and there has been no physical access to them from either country. In reality, the exchange of enclaves denotes only a notional exchange of land as the Protocol converts a de facto reality into a de jure situation, a MEA sources said on condition of anonymity.
Formally, the Constitution (119th) Amendment Bill, which will allow the operationalisation of the 1974 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary agreement, will be taken up by Lok Sabha tomorrow. The bill would also require ratification of at least 50 per cent of the state legislatures before it comes into effect.
It also provides that the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint the date for acquisition and transfer of territories.
The Bill amends the First Schedule of the Constitution to give effect to an agreement entered into by India and Bangladesh on the acquiring and transfer of territories between the two countries on May 16, 1974.
The India-Bangladesh Agreement was signed in 1974, but was not ratified.
Hence, the Bill has been introduced. The Bill refers to demarcated land boundaries in accordance with the Agreement of 1974 which underwent further modification through letters exchanged thereafter and a protocol on September 6, 2011.