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AGP, BJP protest in Parliament

By Spl Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Sept 7 � The land swap deal with Bangladesh has provoked Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and BJP to lodge protest inside and outside the Parliament. The protest led Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram to allay apprehension over boundary agreements.

The Prime Minister is going to make a statement in the Parliament after his return from Dhaka, the Home Minister assured.

If the AGP MPs raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha, the State BJP MPs staged a demonstration in front of the Parliament House. As soon as the Rajya Sabha assembled in the afternoon, AGP MPs Biren Baishya and Kumar Deepak Das raised the issue of transfer of land to Bangladesh.

�No interest of India has been sacrificed. India�s interests have been fully secured,� the Home Minister said in response to AGP�s allegation that land belonging to Assam has been given away to Bangladesh under the agreements.

Describing these as unresolved issues for several years, Chidambaram described the agreements as �historic�. �Upon the Prime Minister�s return, the Government will make a comprehensive statement before the House,� he said.

The Home Minister said the two countries demarcated the entire land boundary and resolved the status of enclaves and adversely possessed areas.

Earlier, agitated MPs, supported by BJP, AIADMK and TDP, sought clarification as to whether India�s land has been given away.

�It was a question of the sovereignty of the country. Assam land has gone to Bangladesh. We totally oppose this,� Baishya said.

While AGP is for good relations with neighbouring countries, it should not be at the cost of Assam land, he remarked amidst interruptions.

Earlier, before the Parliament assembled for business, three of BJP�s MPs including Bijoya Chakravarty, Kabindra Purkayastha and Rajen Gohain displaying placards raised slogans against Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi and the Congress-led Government.

�We protest handing over Assam�s land to Bangladesh,� said a banner, while another stated �PM and CM responsible for our land loss.�

Meanwhile, in a status note on Indo-Bangladesh boundary issues, the Centre has said that it has been recognised that there was a need to find a pragmatic solution to the issue of adverse possession by factoring in the spirit of land boundary agreement and ground realities.

The note was in response to a notice for a half-an-hour discussion in the Rajya Sabha by Baishya and Moinul Hassan on August 25.

The note said that boundary demarcation has been pending for a length of approximately 6.1 km in three segments due to differing interpretation of land boundary agreement. The segments included Lathitila-Dumabari (3 km), Muhuri river- Belonia in Tripura and Daihata (1.5 km).

The note said both sides also agreed to work constructively towards resolving differences to demarcate the land boundary in all three undemarcated segments.

Meanwhile, in a Rajya Sabha reply to a question by Kumar Deepak Das, Minister of State for Home Affairs, M Ramachandran said that during implementation of border fencing works, no land has been given away to the Bangladesh by the construction company along Indo-Bangladesh Border including Karimganj area.

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