GUWAHATI: Chief minister Tarun Gogoi slammed BJP for not doing anything to settle territorial disputes with Bangladesh by taking control of ‘adversely possessed’ land in that country when the NDA was in power at the Centre. This follows a day after BJP president Rajnath Singh said here that his party demands adequate compensation for the land Assam will lose to Bangladesh.
“The land in question is ours just on the map but in reality it has been under adverse possession of Bangladesh for long. Did you (BJP) try to get back our land when you were in power? It is we, the state government, who are trying to settle this long border dispute for once and for all through a settlement. Of the 665 acres of Assam land under Bangladesh’s adverse possession, we are getting back 397.5 acre and Bangladesh gets to keep the remaining part. The settlement will also enable us to fence the disputed three-km stretch in the Lathitila-Dumabari sector, which we haven’t been able to do earlier,” Gogoi said.
The state unit of BJP is opposing giving away of any state land at all to Bangladesh. However, Rajnath took a different stand here on Thursday by saying that the party is not opposed to the land swap deal but wants the Centre to negotiate for adequate compensation from Bangladesh, which Gogoi welcomed. But the chief minister blasted Rajnath for harping on the infiltration issue while ignoring all others problems of the state. “No doubt, infiltration is an important issue in the state, but so are unemployment, floods and erosion. BJP never makes any mention of these other problems. In fact, BJP wants to keep the infiltration issue alive so that it can make full political use of it,” Gogoi said.
– The Times of India/TNN
