Bangladesh Border to be shieled by 2007
The Zoland Times
NEW DELHI, June 22 – The Ministry
of Home Affairs (MHA) today sought to deflect the criticism over the delay in fencing the Indo-Bangladesh border by disclosing that India proposed to seal the international border by 2007. A delegation of North East
Students’ Organisation (NESO) quoted Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil as having assured them in this regard. The border-fencing project has been dogged by delays because of various factors. The entire fencing work excluding certain stretches of Mizoram sector was scheduled to be completed by December, 2006.
The Centre has proposed to fence a total of 3, 287.44 km of the total length of 4,096.70 km of the Indo-Bangladesh border. As of India has managed to fence only 2,187.44 km incurring an expenditure of Rs 2,409.57 crore. In Asom sector, out of the total length of 2,216.70 km, the Centre has proposed to fence 1,528 km. However, so only 1,141.26 km have been fenced at an estimated cost of Rs 253.06 crore.
The NESO, meanwhile, described its meeting with Patil as satisfactory. “The Home Minister, in response to our demand, has assured that the Centre was working on a special package for the North-East,” said chairman and general secretary of NESO, Dr Samujjal Bhattacharyya and NSN Lotha, respectively, addressing newsmen here today.
The unguarded porous border has been used by
fundamentalist groups to infiltrate into the region thereby further threatening the existence of indigenous people. The students alleged over 14 fundamentalist groups are active in the North-East. They are working towards making the North-East part of the greater Bangladesh.
“There is every reason to believe that there are already a considerable number of militant fundamentalist groups operating in the North-East with a design to over run the whole of the Region according to their whims and fancies.
“It is high time that the Government of India adopts a proactive policy in the form of a ‘white paper’ rather a reactive policy to the issue. The need of the hour is to understand that it is no longer a humanitarian problem but a security problem, which has become a hydra-headed monster,” the Home Minister was told.
The NESO further demanded that the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 popularly known as the ‘Inner Line Permit’ system must be extended to the entire North Eastern Region (NER).
The NESO delegation later called on Opposition Leader, L.K.Advani with the same plea. The students requested the BJP leader to take up the issue of scrapping the controversial Foreigners (Tribunal of Assam) Order 2006 in the Parliament. They also called for repeal of the provisions 3 (1) (a) and (b) of the Indian Citizenship Act.
Meanwhile, the AASU and All Koch-Rajbonshi Students Union have joined hands demand scheduling of the community as Schedule Tribe (Plains). The KR community was granted ST status through Central Ordinance four times but still the community is passing through uncertainty.
In the process of scheduling the different communities, the Government of India should take special care not to disturb the interest of the existing tribal communities in the State of Asom. The Government of India should have a comprehensive policy on reservation while considering the demand for scheduling, the president and general of AASU, Shankar Prasad Ray and Tapan Kumar Gogoi respectively, said.