By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and BJP on Thursday staged strong protest against the Indo-Bangladesh Land Swap bill after it was tabled in Rajya Sabha.
The opposition parties alleged that the bill was tabled in an undemocratic way at the house on Wednesday. The MPs of BJP have staged protest in New Delhi while the MLAs of BJP and AGP in Guwahati have staged a walk out during the winter session of Assam assembly on Thursday. All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) too has reacted at the development by burning effigy of the bill.
All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) activists protest against the UPA government regarding the tabling of constitutional amendment bill in Rajya Sabha by burning effigy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Assam CM Tarun Gogoi in Guwahati on Thursday.
AASU and AGP, however, alleged that BJP did not do much in the house to stop the bill.
“The Congress government wants to hand over Indian land to Bangladesh and that too in undemocratic way. It’s a shame for trying to do so. We will not let it happen at any cost. We won’t let it pass in Lok Sabha,” BJP national vice president and Guwahati MP Bijoya Chakraborty said at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Thursday.
The constitutional amendment bill which will facilitate the swap of land enclaves with Bangladesh was introduced in Rajya Sabha amid din and high drama which saw members of Trinamool Congress and AGP trying to snatch copies of the proposed legislation on Wednesday. The protesting members complained that deputy chairman P J Kurien did not keep his promise not to allow introduction of the legislation without taking the sense of the House.
The saffron party has also called for a 12-hour Assam bandh on Friday.
“The way the bill was tabled from back door is not democratic. We condemn the process. All of our MLAs have walked out of the assembly today and we are observing the day as black day for insulting the democratic system by the government,” said AGP president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. Besides, the MLAs of BJP also staged a walk out from the assembly.
AGP also burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the tabling the bill. The agreement was signed during PM Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in 2011. In this agreement, the issue of exchange of ‘adversely possessed land’ in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal along the India-Bangladesh border were finalized.
AGP supporters and workers burn the effigy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and burn the copy of Land Swap Deal in Guwahati on Thursday.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has been arguing that the agreement is in favour of the state’s interest as it will help tackle infiltration, smuggling and promote trade relations between the two countries. He said that Assam will get 397.50 acre land from Bangladesh, while the state will part with only 267.5 acre as part of the land swap agreement.
AASU, the apex students’ body of the state also burnt the effigy of PM Manmohan Singh and Assam CM Tarun Gogoi. “At any cost the interest of the people of the state and the region has to be addressed. We can protest but the opposition parties have to do the actual work in the house. All have to do it. But we are shocked that BJP did not do much when the bill was being tabled,” AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya said in Guwahati.