By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: India’s northeastern region is witnessing wind of change and it is a bit too early. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at New Delhi has utterly failed to impress the people of the region with their actions so far, rather they are angry.
After a series of developments which went against the will of the region, now the BJP led government has decided to give green signal to the 2000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Power Project (LSHEP).
AGP activists burn the effigy of union coal and power minister Piyush Goyal and Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi as a protest against price hike and central decision to resume the construction of Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Power project, in Guwahati on Friday 4th July, 2014. Photo by: Dasarath Deka.
Union Minister of State for Coal, Power and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal said the Power Ministry has resolved the impasse related to the project and the remaining works will resume shortly.
The work on the power project was stopped in December 2011 due to the agitation launched by anti-dam activists in the state.
This decision has led state wide protest by various organizations and political parties.
The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the main regional party of the state lambasted the Narendra Modi-led government for their back to back anti-people decision in the region.
AGP working president Atul Bora termed the BJP as a party of double-speak. The people of the state have been opposing the mega dam projects for quite a long time. During the course of their agitation, they have been subjected to harassment and atrocities by the police.
“The BJP has been maintaining dual standard on everything. They speak something else before the election and work the opposite after the election. They have cheated the people of the region by playing with the emotion of the common people. We condemn their act and we will oppose it to the best possible manner,” Bora said.
Ironically, the BJP lent its support to the people’s movement on the issue prior to the Lok Sabha polls only to attract the votes of the people. But the real face of the BJP has now come to the open, Bora said.
The present union home minister Rajnath Singh also took part in a mass anti-dam movement in 2010.
AASU advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya and other leadership addressing a press conference in Guwahati regarding the central government’s decision to resume the construction of the Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Project. Photo by: Surajit Sharma.
The AGP will continue to oppose the mega dam projects and the decision of the Central Government on the LSHEP.
Other organizations including the students’ bodies too have reacted in a strong way against the BJP’s move. The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) expressed its apprehensions over the Central Government taking a ‘U-turn’ on the burning issues confronting the state.
AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharyya said that the NDA government has breached the words. “How can the BJP do like this without concerning about the fate of the people. The government did not pay any heed to the reports submitted by the expert committee. This is a serious concern and we will do our best to stop this,” Bhattacharyya said.
The students’ body would resort to a ‘Satyagraha’ on July 7 in protest against the decision, reasoning that such a move — and that too before the arrival of the final report of the experts — would prove detrimental to the interests of the indigenous people.
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), a peasants’ body of the state demanded the resignation of Sarbananda Sonowal, the Union Minister of State-Independent Charge for Sports & Youth Affairs, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship who is an MP from Lakhimpur.
“Sarbananda Sonowal did not rise up to the expectation of the people of the state. The BJP cheated us. We demand all the MPs of the state should step down if they really are concern with the interest of the people,” said a KMSS leader.
The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Praichad (AJYCP) also took strong exception to the reported resumption of construction work on the Lower Subansiri hydro-electric project at Gerukamukh by the NHPC, Arunachal Pradesh government and by the centre.
Earlier, the BJP had earned much criticism for its stand on letting Bangladeshi nationals who are below 13 years and above 65 years of age with multiple entry visa. Besides, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration of a 600 MW dam in Bhutan also drew criticism. Political parties and organizations were also unhappy with the stand on the Land Swap deal with Bangladesh.
A file photo of Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Project at Gerukamukh in Lakhimpur district in Assam. Photo by: Dasarath Deka.
Though the BJP has been opposing the land swap deal, the recent Bangladesh visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj indicted BJP’s soft sand on the issue.
The land agreement was signed during then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in 2011, the protocol to the 1974 land boundary demarcation between the two countries. In this agreement, the issue of exchange of ‘adversely possessed land’ in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal along with the India-Bangladesh border was finalized.
The price hike is another matter of worries for the people of the country. With all these issues, now everybody in the region has started feeling cheated by the BJP.