Author: A Staff Reporter
Publication: Sentinel Assam
Date: February 20, 2005
The Assam State unit of the Communist
Party of India (CPI) has expressed grave concern over the design
of Islamic fundamentalists of Bangladesh to create a 'greater Bangladesh'
comprising Assam, neighbouring Tripura and parts of West Bengal.
The fundamentalist groups, with
the active backing of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of America
and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan are working
overtime to cede the North-east to Bangladesh under the design, posing
a serious threat to the integrity of Assam as well as the whole country,
said Promode Gogoi, CPI national executive member, while addressing
newsmen in the party headquarters here today.
The CPI has decided to deal with
the issue in its forthcoming 19th State conference to start from
February 25 at Sivasagar, Gogoi said. "We will try to chalk out a
strategy in the ensuing conference to thwart the Islamist design,"
he said.
CPI general secretary AB Bardhan,
Central Secretariat member of the party and MP Gurudas Dasgupta as
well as national executive member and cabinet minister of Manipur
P Parijat Singh are expected to attend the three-day long conference.
They will address the open session on the inaugural day. According
to the reports received from various channels about the Islamist-ISI-CIA
design regarding the North-east, the current situation is very grave,
Gogoi said.
Accusing the CIA of being the originator
of the design, Gogoi recalled that it had put into operation its
secret mission codenamed 'Operation Brahmaputra', to destabilize
the North-east, which has immense strategic importance due to its
geographical location and natural resources. Gogoi said, America
never wants India to emerge as a strong power in this region like
China because it would be a great challenge to them, both in military
and economic fronts, he added.
"We would not like to attach the
name of any particular religion to this issue like the BJP, but we
are concerned because the issue is related to the sovereignty of
India, and it has to be tackled carefully," the veteran communist
leader cautioned.
Besides, the CPI has demanded that
the number of Assembly seats in all the districts of Assam must be
kept as they are now. Gogoi expressed concern over reports that as
a result of the ongoing delimitation process, the number of the Assembly
seats of some upper Assam districts like Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and
Tinsukia will be decreased as per the population ratio formula adopted
for in the process. He alleged that some middle and lower Assam districts
will gain more seats following the delimitation process because the
population of these districts have shown 'abnormal growth', "which
may have been caused by large-scale illegal influx." Until the detection
and deportation of illegal migrants are completed, the structure
of district-wise Assembly seats must not be changed, he demanded.
On the ULFA problem, the CPI has
welcomed the effort of Mamoni Raisom Goswami to bring the militant
outfit to the negotiation table. Gogoi appealed to both the Centre
and the ULFA to declare a ceasefire to pave the way for unconditional
talks for the greater interest of Assam.
