Protest against Indo-Bangla land swap deal

A delegation of the Northeast Students' Organisation (NESO) Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here and expressed opposition to the proposed land swap deal between India and Bangladesh.

The NESO delegation, led by its chairman Samual Jyrwa and adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya, made it clear that the student organisations of the northeast region will never accept the idea of handing over even a single inch of the land to the neighbouring country.

"The prime minister had given a patient hearing to us and explained to us why the government had initiated the move to hand over the land to Bangladesh. However, we have made it clear that it would not be acceptable to us," Bhattacharyya told IANS.

Back in Assam, the state's regional political party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) took out a procession in all the district headquarters to protest against the central government's move to introduce in the Rajya Sabha the controversial Constitutional Amendment Bill, ratifying the Indo-Bangla land swap deal.

Tuesday, almost all the district units of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and the AGP burnt copies of the bill in protest against the move.

The NESO delegation also took up with the prime minister issues like the home ministry's recent move to dissolve the DONER ministry, and floods, erosion and various other issues plaguing the northeast region.

"The prime minister assured us that the DONER ministry will not be dissolved but that efforts would be taken to revamp the ministry," said Bhattacharyya while adding that the delegation had also urged the prime minister to take steps towards instituting a special educational commission for the students' of the northeast region.

"Every year, lakhs of students from the northeastern states go out of their respective states and the region for higher studies and with them the respective state governments have to face a loss of an estimated Rs.300 crore," he said.

"We have urged the prime minister to institute a special educational commission for the students of the region so that these students can be given opportunities to pursue higher studies in their own state," he said.