Asom to be part of Bangladesh if border fencing not done:AASU

Guwahati, Apr 5 (UNI) AASU today questioned the Central and state governments' sincerity towards protecting Asom from ''becoming a part of greater Bangladesh' after the extended deadline for completing border fencing along the porous Indo-Bangladesh border in the state elapsed on March 31.'' The All Assam Students' Union branded the governments 'liars' for failing to keep the assurance given at the Prime Ministerial level of completing the fencing and warned of rise in jehadi and fundamentalist activities if the border is not sealed immediately.

Addressing a press meet here AASU advisor Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya said, ''The government had declared of completing the border fencing by December 31, 2006. When it failed to meet the deadline, it extended it to March 31, 2007, even without consulting the AASU. But they failed to keep it also,'' he said.

As per a decision in the Prime Minister-level tripartite talks with the AASU and the state government on May 5, 2005, the entire border fencing was to have been completed by December 31, 2006. The issue of border fencing was mentioned in clause nine of the historic Assam Accord, signed on August 15, 1985.

''However, Assam Accord Implementation Minister Bhumidhar Barman announced in the state Assembly recently that the fencing will be completed by March 31,'' Dr Bhattacharya said, adding that Dr Barman was not the competent authority to extend the deadline without consulting the AASU, the signatory of the Accord.

''We did not protest as our objective was to see the work done.

But when our team visited the international border last week, it found that the fencing work was far from being completed,'' he added.

An AASU delegation, led by its co-coordinator of the International Border Affairs Innamul Haque, had visited the Dhubri and Cachar-Karimganj sectors. A seven-minute film on recordings of the present state of fencing work there was also shown today, copies of which would be sent to the prime minister, chief minister and the Union Home ministry.

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