AGP burns effigies of PM, CM over land swap deal

FROM A CORRESPONDENT

TINSUKIA, May 6:  Opposition Asom Ga Parishad (AGP) activists today registered massive protests here today against handing over Assam’s land to Bangladesh by burning the effigies of Prime Minister rendra Modi and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. The Tinsukia District Committee of the AGP also burnt a copy of the land-swap deal Bill.

Prabin Dutta, president of Tinsukia District AGP, said that the AGP will carry forward the struggle against the anti-Assam polices adopted by the  Centre and the State Government as well.

The Tinsukia District AASU also burnt the effigies of PM Modi and Assam Chief Minister Gogoi.

It may be mentioned that the Union cabinet on Tuesday cleared a constitutiol amendment bill to ratify the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh and operatiolize the 2011 Protocol to the agreement in its origil form that includes exchange of territories in Assam along with those in West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya.

India and Bangladesh have a common land boundary of approximately 4096.7 km, which was determined as per the Radcliffe Award of 1947, then with East Pakistan.

The bill states that disputes arose out of some provisions in the Radcliffe Award, which were sought to be resolved through the Bagge Award of 1950, and another effort was made to settle these disputes by the Nehru-Noon Agreement of 1958, but disputes in certain areas continued. On 16th May, 1974, the two countries signed an agreement to find a solution to the complex ture of the border demarcation involved. This agreement was not ratified as it involved transfer of territory, which requires a constitutiol amendment.