After visiting Karmganj sector of the India-Bangladesh border in Assam, Union home minister Rajnath Singh here on Sunday announced that the porous border will be sealed in 2016.
Mr Singh, who arrived here on a two-day visit of Assam, went to see the Stemerghat border out-posts in Karimganj district and regretted that the international border which was still porous should have been sealed long ago.
Meanwhile, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi termed Mr Singh’s visit to the international border without taking the state government into confidence as unfortunate and in violation of the spirit of cooperative federalism.
In a statement here on Sunday, Mr Gogoi said, “We welcome the Union home minister’s border visit. However, not taking the Assam government’s representative along with him in spite of its request is a violation of the spirit of cooperative federalism and the NDA government’s much vaunted rhetoric of Team India.”
Mr Gogoi said that the state government has important role in safeguarding the border and hence the Assam government should have been taken into confidence for making the border visit more meaningful.” He further said, “Never before in my long political career the state government was ignored like this.”
Mr Singh was accompanied by Union minister of state for sports and youth affairs Sarbananda Sonowal, Assam BJP leaders Himanta Biswa Sarma and a delegation of the All-Assam Students’ Union (AASU), including its chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya, president Dipank Nath and general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi.
Mr Singh’s visit was also aimed at to fulfil his commitment to the AASU leadership in 2015.
“The minister had expressed his desire for a joint visit of the international border during a seminar organised by us in New Delhi last year. This visit was to fulfil his commitment today. We have showed him the open international border in Karimganj district. The Union home minister has assured that the border would be sealed within this year,” said AASU president Dipank Nath.
“The home minister has also informed us that the issues which have affected the sealing of the border in Karimganj district since November last year, have been taken up with Bangladesh government and sorted out amicably,” said Aasu president while expressing his satisfaction over the development.
