The BJP National Executive notes with concern that the India-Bangladesh Land Transfer Agreement reached in Dhaka during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Bangladesh on September 5-6, 2011has ignored the feelings and sentiments of the people of the border States of Assam and West Bengal.
In the name of rationalisation of adversely possessed lands and exchanging enclaves of Bangladesh in India and vice versa, the rights and interests of the local population have been severely compromised, leading to unrest throughout Assam and in many parts of North Bengal. The BJP had, during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, warned the Government of India not to undertake this exercise without appropriate consultation with the affected people or taking the sentiments of the States into account.
At the behest of BJP National President Shri Nitin Gadkari, a committee of MPs and other Central and State leaders under the leadership of Shri SS Ahluwalia, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, recently visited the affected border districts of the two States. The team examined the ground situation and spoke to a large number of persons to assess their grievances.
The team found widespread confusion and anxiety prevailing among the people because they had not been taken into confidence in this matter. The people are agitated because they rightly feel that the Government of India has legitimised encroachment of Indian territories by Bangladesh through the September 6, 2011 Agreement, which amounts to formally transferring land illegally occupied by erstwhile East Pakistan and later Bangladesh over the years. Apart from Assam and West Bengal, there are anxieties in Tripura and Mizoram. In Tripura some land near Chandan Nagar is scheduled to be transformed which is being opposed by the settled population of Indian there.
Although nearly 1,500 survey maps were exchanged between Indian and Bangladeshi officials before re-demarcation of the border, these maps are not in the public domain. Indian Security forces stationed on the border are also in the dark about the precise redrawing of the border. Indian farmers who appear to have finally lost their ancestral lands as part of the exchange are in the dark about whether they will be allotted equivalent land inside Indian territories or receive monetary compensation in lieu thereof. They fear they may become refugees in their own country.
The BJP demands the Government place the complete details of the land transfer protocols with all relevant survey maps before Parliament. The Party wants a comprehensive discussion in the Winter Session of Parliament before the Government takes any steps to part with Indian territories.
While the BJP is in favour of improving ties with Bangladesh and appreciates the present Government in Dhaka for the steps it has taken to curb activities of separatists operating from there, this cannot be at the cost of the livelihood and properties of Indian citizens living in the affected border regions.
The BJP is of the view that the demographic invasion of India by illegal Bangladeshi migrants has already severely affected the identity, culture and social cohesion of many parts of Assam and West Bengal. No further compromise with the country’s national interests can be permitted. The BJP pledges to fight for the rights of people adversely impacted by the Land Transfer Agreement of September 6, 2011 and demands that the Government come clean before Parliament.
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