A
second Barak Gana Parishad delegation under the leadership of Shri Rati
Ranjan Roy called on the then Union Home Minister Shri L K Advani in
August 1999 to reiterate the demand for separate Barakland state.
BODO, BARAK VALLEY LEADERS FORGE UNITY [UNI:12-JUL-98]
UNITED NEWS OF INDIA (UNI) NEWS ITEM DATED 12 JULY 1998:
------------------------------
Bodoland movement groups and the newly formed Barak Gana
Parishad (BGP) in Assam have decided to join hands for the
fulfillment of their demands for separate States, BGP president Rati
Ranjan Roy said in New Delhi on Sunday. The
BGP, he said, had requested the BJP-led Government to include the
case of Barakland and Bodoland on its agenda of creating
separate states in line with Uttaranchal, Vananchal, Chattisgarh,
Delhi and Pondicherry.
Mr Roy said he has submitted a
memorandum to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee giving
details of the struggle of the Barak valley people, launched in early
1960s. On August 10, the party will start a 1001-hour blockade of
national and state highways passing through the Barak valley as part
of a multipronged plan to achieve its objective. He said
about a month ago, the BGP spurned an offer by Assam Chief Minister to
set up a Barak Valley Development Council (BVDC) to meet the
political aspirations of the predominantly Bengali-speaking
inhabitants of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts.
Call for Barakland
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA (PTI) NEWS DATED DECEMBER
19, 1998, PUBLISHED ALL OVER . A PUBLISHED ITEM WHICH APPEARED IN 'THE
TRIBUNE', CHANDIGARH DATED 20TH DECEMBER HEREUNDER :
Call for Barakland
GUWAHATI, Dec 19, 1998 (PTI) — The Barak Gana Parishad,
a non-political organisation formed in April, today demanded carving
out of a separate Barakland state from southern Assam. The BGP, having
250 units spread over Barak valley, demanded that the Centre and state
governments pass separate bills in this regard, the organisations’
president Rati Ranjan Roy said in a press release here.
Appeal to Congress led-UPA government
We
urge the Congress led-UPA government to take adequate steps to find a
solution of the Barakland issue immediately. The BARAK GANA PARISHAD is
in favour of smaller states and urge upon the government to address the
state demand by instituting a second state reorganisation commission to
ensure equality, and rapid all-round development in the country.
The Bengali Language Movement (Bangla Bhasha Andolon)
The Bengali Language Movement (Bangla Bhasha Andolon) in Barak
Valley was a protest against the decision of the Government of Assam to
make Assamese the only official language of the state even though a
significant proportion of the population
were Bengali speaking. In Barak Valley, the Bengali speaking
population constituted a majority. The main incident, in which 11 people
were killed by State police, took place on 19th May 1961, in Silchar
Railway Station.
A day after the killing by Assam Police i.e. on May
20, 1961, the citizens took out a huge procession (See picture below)
in the Main Roads of Silchar. BARAK GANA PARISHAD SALUTES THE BHASHA
SAHEEDS.
Meeting with Prime Minister
A
delegation of Barak Gana Parishad (BGP) led by founder President Shri
Rati Ranjan Roy met the then Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee at
New Delhi in July 1998 and submitted a memorandum demanding separate
state of Barakland.
LETTER TO UNION AGRICULTURE & PDS MINISTER SRI SHARAD PAWAR
To
Shri Sharad Pawar
Hon’ble Union Minister
Agriculture; Food & Public Distribution
Government of India
Krishi Bhawan
New Delhi
Hon’ble Sir,
Barak Gana Parishad (BGP) on behalf of 4.5 million people of Barak
Valley (proposed Barakland state to be carved out of Assam) comprising
Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts would like to draw your
attention to the new policy which is likely to be framed by the Govt of
India in respect of the Public Distribution System. In this regard we
are submitting a few suggestions for your kind perusal and taking the
same with the appropriate authorities in respect of Barak Valley.
The three Barak Valley Districts, though not a totally non-producing
area in respect of food grains, yet it is much less than sufficient as
the topography and soil do not support the same. Besides the low
yielding paddy, the only agricultural product here is tea cultivation
and majority of tea gardens are sick.
The areas witness a
peculiar climatic condition with rainfall for about 6 months and winter
for about 2 months making general living conditions very difficult.
Paddy is destroyed every year due to perennial floods, an annual saga
which could have been contained with the erection of the Tipaimukh
(Barak) Dam which New Delhi had shelved to get Anup Chetia and his mates
repatriated from Bangladesh. This is like leaving your wife to keep
your illegitimate girl friend happy!
The economy of the region
is weak as limited business opportunities exist here. The entire economy
is based on tea. Employment opportunities are a zero as the state
government does not fill positions which fall vacant in the valley with
locals, but induct non-Barak people from Brahmaputra Valley and transfer
them here. The Assam Secretariat did not employ a single person from
Barak Valley during the last 25 years. MLA’s and MP’s are mostly agents
of Dispur as election tickets are distributed only amongst stooges..At
the time of distribution of party tickets there is virtually a rat race
as to who is the top stooge. As such the majority of the population is
self-employed in small business or private jobs. The average salaries
being paid in is very low and ranges from Rs 1500-Rs 3000 per month.
Considering the above we feel that any policy by the Government of
India to benefit the valley people has to be taken with a different view
as there is a vast difference in the overall conditions of Barak Valley
and the rest of the state. As regards a food policy we feel that while
formulating a policy for Barak areas the following suggestions should be
considered,
Bark Valley consumers are totally dependent on the
PDS for their food requirements. Further, as the economic condition of
the consumers being poor, the dependence on the PDS becomes total, as
the consumers cannot afford to buy from the open market. As such the
total quantity required by a person for his monthly consumption should
be supplied through the PDS. The present quantity per family per month
is not sufficient and this should be trebled. The ideal supply would be
50 kgs of rice 25 kgs of Wholemeal Atta and 5kgs of wheat. We would
request introduction of supply of Enriched Wholemeal Atta through the
PDS. The scheme we learn was a pilot project of the country and has been
extended to other states (not Barak Valley) in view of its success and
benefits of enrichment with micro-nutrients.
There should be no
categorization of the consumers in the form of BPL and APL as 90% of
the population fall under a similar category of monthly income ranging
from Rs500-3000 per month. Although a sizeable population might not meet
the BPL criteria as formulated by the Government, but they are in no
way affluent and deserve the benefits as being given to the BPL
consumers. In fact the BPL criteria framed by the Government has also
been done taking political considerations. Municipal ward commissioners,
Panchayats, MLA’s and MP’s have benami BPL/AAY ration cards. As such
considering the overall conditions prevailing here the entire consumers
should be categorized under a single category and foodstuffs should be
made available at the BPL rates as specifically fixed by the Government
for people of Barak Valley.
The passage of the Food Security
Bill in Parliament paves the way to give nation's two-third population
the right to 5 kg of food grain every month at highly subsidised rates
of Rs 1-3 a kg which may be slightly modified in consultation with the
state government for Barak Valley people. Let there be non-political
observers from other states to monitor the screening process of
applications which are bound to discriminate ideological or political
adversaries. We do not trust the Assam government or its agents.
Supply of sugar should also be increased as the present supply by the
state government is totally erratic. Further the scale of supply of
sugar should be more than doubled from the existing quota per person
(not per card) per month.
We are hopeful that the problems
being faced by our people will be suitably taken up from your end with
the appropriate authorities to benefit the Barak Valley people.
Thanking you
Yours sincerely
Rati Ranjan Roy
President
Barak Gana Parishad
Dated at Silchar, 25th August, 2013
The Bengali Language Movement -- Unnishe May Martyr's
The Bengali Language Movement (Bangla Bhasha
Andolon) in Barak Valley was a protest against the decision of the
Government of Assam to make Assamese the only official language of the
state even though a significant proportion of the population
were Bengali speaking. In Barak Valley, the Bengali speaking population
constituted a majority. The main incident, in which 11 people were
killed by State police, took place on 19th May 1961, in Silchar Railway
Station.
A day after the killing by Assam Police i.e. on May
20, 1961, the citizens took out a huge procession (See picture below) in
the Main Roads of Silchar. BARAK GANA PARISHAD SALUTES THE BHASHA
SAHEEDS.
After the incident, the Assam government had to
withdraw the circular and Bengali was ultimately given official status
in Barak Valley.
Since then the 19th of May is remembered as the Bengali Language Martyr day in Barak Valley and other parts in India.
Eleven persons who were martyred on 19th May 1961:
Kanailal Niyogi
Chandicharan Sutradhar
Hitesh Biswas
Satyendra Deb
Kumud Ranjan Das
Sunil Sarkar
Tarani Debnath
Sachindra Chandra Pal
Birendra Sutradhar
Sukamal Purakayastha
Kamala Bhattacharya
BARAK GANA PARISHAD SALUTES THE HEROES!
This massacre is compared with the massacre in Jalianwala Bagh or the
one in Bangladesh on 21st February, 1952 when students demonstrating for
recognition of their language, Bengali, as one of the two national
languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka.
Please see the link:
articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com › Collections › Railway Station
For more please click:
Unishe May
APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE OF BARAK VALLEY
APPEAL
TO THE PEOPLE OF BARAK VALLEY:::BEWARE OF CONSPIRACY OF STATE
GOVERNMENT:::
The state government, aware of the awakening among the
people to demand separation from Assam and carving out separate
Barakland state, is playing with fire and hatched a conspiracy to divide
the people on communal lines. This is indeed a conspiracy to weaken the
separation movement. We must not get trapped into it. We want unity.
The Assam government's strategy will backfire – no divide and rule. The
state government will play many tricks, but the people will have to
exercise restraint and move ahead. The Barak Gana Parishad (BGP) warns
the police not to cross the jurisdiction. We demand separate Barakland
state.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)