India is determined to pass the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement protocol bill in the coming winter session of parliament. Initiative is being taken for discussions with Trinamool Congress as well as the West Bengal and Assam units of BJP who are opposed to the bill, in order to reach a consensus as soon as possible.
The Indian parliamentary standing committee for external affairs took a decision in this regard at their meetings on last Tuesday and Wednesday. This is the first meeting of the committee after it was restructured with former minister for external affairs Shashi Tharoor at the head.
One of the members of the committee and vice president of Congress, Rahul Gandhi, was absent at the first meeting. Trinamool Congress member Sugata Bose was also absent. However, another Trinamool Congress member Mumtaz Sanghamitra attended the meeting.
Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina and the Indian prime minister at the time, Manmohan Singh, signed the land boundary agreement protocol of 1974 in September 2011 in Dhaka, to resolve a number of unresolved issues between the two countries, including exchange of enclaves and occupied territory as well as demarcation of six and a half kilometres of undemarcated border. India will have to amend its constitution to implement this agreement. The amendment bill awaits passage in the Indian parliament.
During the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government rule, BJP and the Assam assembly opposed the passage of this bill. Now in government, BJP is looking to pass the bill.
In the meeting, external affairs minister Sujata Singh pointed out that Trinamool Congress and BJP Assam unit’s opposition to the bill was baseless. When BJP member Tripathi raised the question of losing territory, Sujata Singh said that it was not a matter of gaining or losing territory. How could anyone exert their right over what no one possessed, she asked. Certain members spoke of rehabilitating residents of the enclaves. Sujata Singh said there is provision in the agreement for rehabilitating any Indian who wanted to come to the country. This was the responsibility of the central government. While dispelling the fears of the opposition, she also explained the importance of the bill.
Several members who had been present at the meeting say that the recent bomb blast in Burdwan reiterated the need for the land boundary agreement to be signed between India and Bangladesh.
At the meeting CPM lawmaker Mohammed Selim said that the humanitarian impact of the boundary not being demarcated and the enclaves not being exchanged, was being overlooked. He said that those areas were becoming dens of social vice. It was imperative in national interests and on the question of security, to implement this bill as soon as possible, he added.
Trinamool Congress’s Mumtaz Sanghamitra declined from expressing her views without consulting her party chief at first. Mohammed Selim said that it was important to hear the views of those opposed to the bill.
It was decided that talks with those opposed to the bill and with the governments of the concerned states would be held at the standing committee’s next meeting towards the end of this month. The committee’s proposal would be finalised within November so that the issue could be settled in the winter session of parliament. The winter session of parliament in India normally begins mid-November and continues till the third week of December.
India is determined to pass the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement protocol bill in the coming winter session of parliament. Initiative is being taken for discussions with Trinamool Congress as well as the West Bengal and Assam units of BJP who are opposed to the bill, in order to reach a consensus as soon as possible.
The Indian parliamentary standing committee for external affairs took a decision in this regard at their meetings on last Tuesday and Wednesday. This is the first meeting of the committee after it was restructured with former minister for external affairs Shashi Tharoor at the head.
One of the members of the committee and vice president of Congress, Rahul Gandhi, was absent at the first meeting. Trinamool Congress member Sugata Bose was also absent. However, another Trinamool Congress member Mumtaz Sanghamitra attended the meeting.
Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina and the Indian prime minister at the time, Manmohan Singh, signed the land boundary agreement protocol of 1974 in September 2011 in Dhaka, to resolve a number of unresolved issues between the two countries, including exchange of enclaves and occupied territory as well as demarcation of six and a half kilometres of undemarcated border. India will have to amend its constitution to implement this agreement. The amendment bill awaits passage in the Indian parliament.
During the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government rule, BJP and the Assam assembly opposed the passage of this bill. Now in government, BJP is looking to pass the bill.
In the meeting, external affairs minister Sujata Singh pointed out that Trinamool Congress and BJP Assam unit’s opposition to the bill was baseless. When BJP member Tripathi raised the question of losing territory, Sujata Singh said that it was not a matter of gaining or losing territory. How could anyone exert their right over what no one possessed, she asked. Certain members spoke of rehabilitating residents of the enclaves. Sujata Singh said there is provision in the agreement for rehabilitating any Indian who wanted to come to the country. This was the responsibility of the central government. While dispelling the fears of the opposition, she also explained the importance of the bill.
Several members who had been present at the meeting say that the recent bomb blast in Burdwan reiterated the need for the land boundary agreement to be signed between India and Bangladesh.
At the meeting CPM lawmaker Mohammed Selim said that the humanitarian impact of the boundary not being demarcated and the enclaves not being exchanged, was being overlooked. He said that those areas were becoming dens of social vice. It was imperative in national interests and on the question of security, to implement this bill as soon as possible, he added.
Trinamool Congress’s Mumtaz Sanghamitra declined from expressing her views without consulting her party chief at first. Mohammed Selim said that it was important to hear the views of those opposed to the bill.
It was decided that talks with those opposed to the bill and with the governments of the concerned states would be held at the standing committee’s next meeting towards the end of this month. The committee’s proposal would be finalised within November so that the issue could be settled in the winter session of parliament. The winter session of parliament in India normally begins mid-November and continues till the third week of December.
Source: Prothom Alo
