GUWAHATI, May 27 � The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today sent a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee, seeking his intervention in the matter relating to the Indo-Bangla Land Swap Deal. The memorandum, signed by AGP president Atul Bora, said, �We urge you to take appropriate steps to gauge the opinion of the people of Assam, if necessary, through a referendum on the land swap deal and then only consider giving assent to the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill.�
Opposing the Constitution Amendment Bill passed by the Parliament in this connection recently, the AGP president described the acts of bifurcating the land of Assam and handing it over to Bangladesh as identical to affecting the territorial integrity of Assam, �which has belittled the sentiments of the people of the State.�
The BJP-led regime at the Centre is trying to impose such a damaging decision on the people of the State by going against the election pledge of the BJP during the run-up to the last Lok Sabha elections, Bora said and described this step as unconstitutional as it has reduced the size of Assam.
The Central Government has avoided the issues concerning the illegal influx of people from Bangladesh, long-standing boundary dispute with the neighbouring country and the need to seal the Indo-Bangla boundary and has instead concentrated more on handing over Assam�s land to Bangladesh. This is nothing but an act of deceit for the people of Assam, Bora said and urged the President to intervene in the matter, an AGP press release stated.
Bora described the assertion of the Central Government that the Land Boundary Agreement would lead to cessation of the border dispute with Bangladesh as a false assertion. He said, �It is also a completely wrong belief that the measure will resolve the border dispute between the two countries. India has no boundary dispute with Bangladesh and the Modi Government is only out to appease the Bangladesh Government without giving any thought to the hue and cry raised by the people of Assam.�