DIBRUGARH, Aug 27 � The BJP today summarily rejected the reported statement by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi yesterday that if decided by the Centre, Assam would part with some of its land to Bangladesh. This was made known today by BJP spokesman and national council member Sarbananda Sonowal, who said that the offer, if correctly reported, is unheard of and absurd.
He said that Gogoi is giving out misleading signals to the people of Assam by saying that plots of Assam land may be yielded to Bangladesh without any quid pro quo. Sonowal added that this could lead to unnecessary turmoil in Assam, at a time when India and Bangladesh may be trying to further bolster friendly relations.
Sonowal expressed surprise that an elected Chief Minister of a State is volunteering to give away land to a foreign country, instead of asserting the State�s absolute right over its land.
He suggested that the proposed visit to Bangladesh by the Indian Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Assam be used as an opportunity to take up issues of illegal infiltration of Bangladeshis into India and to prepare modalities of pushing back Bangladeshis into their country, as and when they are detected as infiltrators in India.
