Pradip Dutta Roy’s BDF calls for meeting on 26th; “Barak Bandh if delimitation isn’t reconsidered,” issues warning

The draft list of delimitation of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in Assam, which the Election Commission released the day before yesterday, clearly shows the plot to take away the political power of the Bengalis of the state and Barak Valley regardless of their religion. After an emergency meeting of the executive committee of BDF today, BDF Chief Convenor Pradip Dutta Roy expressed his strong reaction to the issue.

Dutta Roy while speaking to the journalists said that there is no question of accepting the draft. He said that the current population of Bodoland is 30 lakhs. The assembly seats there have been increased from 12 to 19. Although the number of Bengali speakers in the state is one third i.e. about 1 crore 10 lakhs, the number of seats in Bengali-dominated areas have been reduced from 16 to 12 in this draft list. Even in Barak Valley, home to 40 lakh people, two assembly seats have been reduced. Dutta Roy believed that this draft is not of Election Commission but of the BJP. The government has not been able to fix the definition of “Bhumiputra” till now but is plotting to eradicate the Bengalis of Barak through delimitation. He said that since the population of any area is constantly changing, the purpose of delimitation is to determine seats in proportion to the changing population. The way Barak’s population has grown in the last two decades suggests that if delimitation were to be performed in true essence, the number of Assembly seats here would be twenty at present and Lok Sabha seats would be three.

Dutta Roy believed that it is pointless and malevolent to publish the draft now based on the 2001 census as the 2011 census was also conducted and even a decade has passed after that. Therefore, he appealed to the government to send proposals for at least twenty assembly seats and three Lok Sabha constituencies to the Election Commission considering the contemporary situation in Barak Valley. He said Barak’s Hindu community will also be affected by this delimitation and gave 72 hours time to the government to send proposal in this regard. Or else there will be a joint meeting with other like-minded party organisations on May 26. And based on everyone’s opinion in that meeting, they will take various initiatives including Barak bandh in the future. He also said that if the draft is not revised even after that, Barak Valley will be forced to walk on the road of separation. And if it happens, the government will be fully responsible for it.

BDF media cell convenor Joydeep Bhattacharjee said today that a protest letter will be sent to the Election Commission on behalf of their organisation before July 14. For sending the letter, collection of necessary information and discussion with experts will be started soon. He said the location of Barak Valley is such that geographically it is a separate terrain. As the population here has increased in the last few decades, there is no question of reducing the number of seats but it is supposed to increase a lot on the contrary. He said the reduction of two seats means that the voice of the people will become more restricted to reach the ruler. The money will not come from the MLA Development Fund and as a valley Barak’s political power will decline in Dispur. He said that this is exactly what the current government wants. This is why he believed that an all-out protest is necessary.

Hrishikesh Dey, another convenor of BDF media cell said the law clearly states that geographical proximity, composition of administrative blocks and ease of transportation should be given priority in delimitation. But in the published draft list all these three issues have been thwarted. The way in which one GP has been lumped with another GP for cheap political gains has no geographical connection and hence the residents will be in dire straits if the list is implemented. The residents of Silchar will have to run to Udharbond, residents of Karimganj to Badarpur and residnts of Borjalenga to Borkhola for various tasks. As it will be a waste of time, everyone will suffer financial and physical losses. He therefore urged all organisations in the valley to send protest letters to the Election Commission in view of this draft list.

Debayan Dev on behalf of BDF informed this news in a press release.