Autonomous Economic Council for Barak Valley demanded
Mass movement taking shape in Barak Valley
From Our Correspondent
KARIMGANJ, June – A mass movement demanding an economic
development council for Barak Valley is crystallising in
Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. Although the demand for
economic autonomy was first mooted in 1961 in the erstwhile
undivided district of Cachar, the movement could not gather
momentum in the subsequent years due to many reasons
including lack of able political leadership and peoples
unawareness in 1998 when Assam was under AGP rule for the
second term. The autonomy movement in Barak Valley districts
had shown the sign of rebuilding in the wake of economic
deprivation of the people of the valley. But the movement
did not last long. This time a well organised movement in
support of the Economic Development Council for Barak Valley
is being planned for and several political leaders belonging
to various parties have come forward to patronise the
movement. Not only this, general people are openly backing a
movement for creation of a separate autonomous economic
council for Barak Valley under relevant provision of the
Constitution.
On September 18, 2006, a mass convention of the
representatives of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi
supporting the demand for an autonomous economic council was
held in Silchar and a resolution was unanimously passed to
launch a mass-based peoples movement under the banner of
Barak Upatyaka Economic Development Council Demand
Committee. It was also decided to go to the people at every
nook and corner of the valley and to make them aware and
organise them for the movement later on. District-level
demand committees for economic development council were
formed in all the three districts covering representatives
from all communities living in Barak Valley.
Recently, in a joint meeting of the office bearers and
representatives of three districts, an adhoc central
committee has been constituted in Silchar to steer the cause
of movement and to expand organisational base at grassroot
level. The daylong meeting was held in Milan Mandir of
Silchar with Manas– Bhattacharjee, former ADC in the chair.
At the outset Kishore Bhattacharjee, a trade union leader
and the president of Silchar Block Congress Committee
explained the objective of the meeting. Quoting various
figures and statistics from the Planning Commission’s
documents and government papers he set out many examples how
people of Barak Valley were being economically deprived
compared to the people of other regions of the country. He
cited examples of Vidarbha Development Council in Maharastra,
Gorkaland Council in West Bengal and Bodoland Territorial in
Assam.
Bhattacharjee said only an economic development council as
envisaged in the Constitution could remove the regional
disparity and economic underdevelopment of Barak Valley
people. He requested the people to rigidly stand behind this
demand and take forward the movement till the goal is
achieved.
Presidents of Karimganj and Hailakandi districts units of
the Demand Committee, Jyotirmaya Das and MR Chaudhury and
other speakers including TB Nath, Jyotish Das, Paritosh Paul
Chaudhury spoke in the same tune favouring a strong movement
for the purpose.
Apart from constituting an adhoc central committee, the
meeting decided to extend organisational base at every block
and town level within next two months by organising meetings
at the behest of respective district committee. The meeting
authorised the central committee to constitute two
sub-committees one for by laws and registration and other
for preparing memorandum.
An advisory committee including leading doctors, advocates,
teachers, retired govt. officials; politicians and
businessmen from Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts
was formed in the meeting. Representatives from different
communities have been covered in the formation of the
central committee.
http://www.assamtri bune.com/ scripts/details. asp?id=jun2707\
State1
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