Opposing the demand to carve out Barak Valley from
Assam, the prohibited militant organisation ULFA (Independent) asked the
Bengali-speaking population in the State to clarify their position on the issue
within 60 days.
The group issued a warning that the entire
Bengali-speaking population in the State would be held accountable for any “untoward
incident” if the Bengalis failed to make their positions on the matter clear
within 60 days.
The Chief Convenor of the Barak Democratic Front (BDF),
an organisation centred in the Barak Valley, was criticised by Rumel Asom, a
member of ULFA-I’s publicity wing, for rallying support for the creation of a
new State in the Barak Valley.
An e-mail statement from the outlawed group said, “Various
communities in Assam have been living in harmony and in unity. But Pradip Dutta
Roy has been trying to create a division among people by raising the demand for
separating Barak Valley. He has no right and his forefathers have no
contribution to the protection of the Barak Valley from Partition. We will, in
no circumstances, allow division of Assam.”
In southern Assam’s Barak Valley, which includes the
districts of Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi, Bengali-speaking Hindus and
Muslims are in the majority.
Of 126 Assembly seats, 13 lie in the Barak Valley
region.
Many residents of the three districts claim that as
most elected officials come from the Assamese-dominated Brahmaputra Valley, the
region has been ignored.
Even as Bengalis comprise about 30 per cent of Assam’s
population (3.2 crore), they are under-represented in the Brahmaputra Valley.
The ULFA (Independent) vehemently opposes the demand
for splitting apart the Bengali-dominated Barak Valley from Assam as a separate
State.
Agencies
