What’s The Politics Behind Demand for Separate ‘Barak Land’?

The politics of the state is currently on the boil after the chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's remarks in Silchar over the demand for a separate Barak land.

At a time when oppositions have come down heavily on Chief Minister after he announced that a discussion would be held on a separate Barak land if the people of Barak want it, the chief convener of Barak Democratic Front (BDF) Pradip Dutta Roy has welcomed his remark in support for the people of Barak.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Roy said, “I welcome chief minister’s comment in support for the people of Barak during his last visit in the region. The entire Barak valley is happy after he showed a willingness to talk on the issue of demand for a separate Barak land. Though as chief minister he would want Barak valley to remain with Assam. But since he said that he is ready to sit in for a discussion with the people of Barak on the matter, for which I would like to convey the chief minister that after the final delimitation order was published, BDF had called ‘bandh’ in the region and accordingly, the public along with various organizations have come forward and supported the ‘bandh’, likewise, the demand for segregation is sure to get spontaneous support from the people of Barak.”

The BDF convener alleged that the organisation has placed five questions to the chief minister amidst his visit in the Barak valley, of late, but, not a single questioned was answered.

“We asked the chief minister how many job appointments were made to people from the Barak Valley region out of a total of 1 lakh. However, the CM did not respond. According to our sources, not even 1,000 employment appointments were made from Barak Valley. Since, the chief minister didn’t answer to our query, we will take our information as authentic. Apart from this, we wanted to know why the Bengali language has not been given the status of the second subsidiary official language despite the fact that Assam has around 1.20 crore Bengali-speaking people. Why Assam government is yet to take a call on this matter? We also wanted to know why the matter of renaming Silchar Railway Station to Bhasha Shahid Station is kept on hold despite clearance from the Ministry of Railway? With no proper feedback from the CM, we feel he is trying to overlook the issue. On the matter of electricity too, the chief minister also didn’t utter a single word,” added Roy.

Roy further questioned why there has been a desperate attempt to deprive the people of Barak valley on all sectors, whereas, the population of Barak is around 45 lakh.

“After final delimitation order, our assembly seats have been reduced to 13 from 15, whereas, the population of Bodoland is 24 lakhs and the constituencies in BTR districts have increased to 15, from 11, aren’t this discrimination? Owing to these issues, we wanted a separate Barak land,” added the BDF convener further.

Interestingly, the BJP's Cachar unit, with a distinct point of view, has spoken out against the organisations calling for a separate region. The BJP has alleged that a force is hatching a deep-rooted conspiracy to create an Islamic state in the entire Barak Valley by demanding a separate Barak Land.

On Sunday, addressing the presser here in Silchar, Kanad Purkayastha, secretary, BJP Assam Pradesh from Cachar said, “Once Syed Muhammad Saadulla (first prime minister of Assam in British India from 1937-1946) and Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, often shortened as Maulana Bhashani wanted to merge a large part of Assam and West Bengal with Erstwhile East Pakistan now Bangladesh. Thus, to fulfill Sadullah and Maulana Bhashani's ambitions, a section of people are now conspiring deeply to create a greater Islamic state by demanding a separate Barak land.

Meanwhile, claiming that there can be no reason to demand a separate Barak in such a situation as the present BJP-led government has done for the development of Barak valley; Kanad Purkayastha also said that no one from Barak has demanded a separate Barak land till date. “Those who are demanding a separate Bora have no mass base. Such kind of demands are against the valley,” added Purkayastha.

Also Read: Assam CM Inaugurates, Lays Foundation Stone of Developmental Projects In Barak Valley