'Greater Bangladesh' idea angers Assam

Author: Wasbir Hussain
Publication:
Date: February 22, 2001

Here is an uproar in Assam over a "Greater Bangla" proposal mooted in a Net discussion by a group of Bangladeshi intellectuals, who feel that a loose political confederation comprising Bangladesh, West Bengal and the seven northeastern states is indeed feasible. Taking a serious view of this idea being propagated, the ruling Asom Gana Parishad on Wednesday brought the matter to the notice of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, home minister L.K. Advani, defence minister George Fernandes and external affairs minister Jaswant Singh. In a letter to Advani, a copy of which has been faxed to TheNewspaperToday, Dr Jayasree Goswami Mahanta, AGP MP in the Rajya Sabha, sought an immediate inquiry into the matter and asked the Centre to take up the issue with Dhaka. Mahanta, wife of Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, said in her letter to Advani that the matter is highly sensitive and "alarming not only for Assam or ther Northeast but also for the whole country." She said unlike the border in Kashmir that has "natural barriers," the border along Bangladesh in Assam, Meghalaya and other parts of the region is porous and navigable in certain stretches. The idea of a confederation with clear separatist designs was floated in an article by Dr A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a Bangladeshi national, in the website deja.com. It is not that there has been widespread support to the idea. Bangladeshi intellectuals like the US-based Dr Asad Khan have strongly opposed the idea in course of the discussion on the Net. Dr Jaffor Ullah (intelligence sources here are not sure whether it is the writer's real name) talks about the "benefits" of such a confederation and says that the new entity that could well emerge would cover an area of 1,89,733 square km comprising a total of 250 million people. The area, he says, would prosper economically through inter-trading among the different states. The writer even went to the extent of talking about the economic stagnation in the Northeast and has blamed New Delhi for the situation. "The economic malaise in Northeast India has been endemic for quite some time. For too long, the region has been neglected by the planners in New Delhi. For the last half a century, the region was affected economically without taking part in wealth accumulation." He has also touched on the extremely delicate issue of sovereignty by stating that the seven northeastern states cannot form a sovereign nation of their own but their problems would be solved if they agree to form a loose confederation with Bangladesh. The local media in Assam has picked up this issue and has cautioned the government in the state and the Centre not to take the issue lightly. The All-Assam Students' Union, that is leading the movement in the state against illegal Bangladeshi migration, has called upon all indigenous people here to fight unitedly to scuttle the "evil design" of a section in Bangladesh to divide India. AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya has been quoted as saying that the failure of the state and Central governments to check the "demographic invasion" from Bangladesh has led to such "outrageous proposals" by a section of people in that country. He said Dhaka had a long-term plan to include Assam in its fold in view of the state's rich natural resources. The AGP government in the state has drawn flak from organisations as the AASU for having failed in the key task of stopping illegal migration and detecting and expelling those who have already entered the state illegally from across the border.

The very origin of the AGP in 1985 came about with the promise to free the state of the illegal Bangladeshi migrants from across the porous border. According to the Assam government's own admission, only 219 persons have been declared as illegal migrants during the period January 1, 2000 to November 30, 2000. Of these, expulsion orders were served on 111 persons and only 11 were actually expelled. The AGP-led government in the state has, of late, been pressing New Delhi to seal the border with Bangladesh. Dr Jayasree Mahanta in her letter to Advani has reiterated the demand to fence the Assam-Bangladesh border to stop the illegal influx.
 

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