NE-Bangla confederation proposed: Bangla cyber war to divide India

GUWAHATI, February 14: In an alarming development, a group of Bangladeshi intellectuals have launched a cyber war to divide India and mooted a proposal to form a confederation comprising Bangladesh and the Northeastern States of India. The intellectuals are using the website www.deja.com to propagate their idea of inclusion of the Northeastern States of India with Bangladesh and according to security sources, such propaganda may result in serious consequences for the security of the country. In an article published in the website, A H Jaffor Ullah, a Bangladeshi national, who now lives in America, proposed the reorganisation of the NE States of India to form a confederation with Bangladesh. He gave a detailed account of the 'benefits' of such a confederation, and said that there are common features among the people of the NE region of India with that of Bangladesh notwithstanding some religious and cultural differences. The new entity with Bangladesh and the NE States of India and West Bengal would cover an area of 1,89,733 sq km and with a population of 250 million, would prosper economically through inter-trading among the states of the confederation, he added. The website gave a detailed map of the proposed confederation and asserted that it makes sense to unite Bangladesh, West Bengal and the NE States of India into a loose political confederation. The writer of the article really gave a serious thought to his proposal as is evident from the fact that the distance between Dhaka and the capitals of West Bengal and the NE States as well as the distance with Chittagong were given in detail to propagate the theory. Ullah said, "the economic malaise in Northeast India has been endemic for quite some time. For too long, the region has been neglected by the planners in New Delhi. For the last half a century, the NE region was affected economically without taking part in wealth accumulation." He pointed out that individually, the seven States of the region cannot form a sovereign nation of their own but their problems would be solved if they agree to form a loose confederation with Bangladesh. Justifying the economic viability of a confederation, he said that West Bengal's strength lies in the field of education, media, heavy industries. He said that Bangladesh has a huge population eager to work in export oriented industries, while, the NE States of India are rich in mineral resources. Ullah said that the Government of India should not view the proposal as a death nail to their republic and other regions of the subcontinent can also form their confederations for economic development. Meanwhile, the security agencies have viewed the developments seriously and expressed the view that such propaganda may seriously affect the security of the country as a whole, at a time when most of the NE states, barring Mizoram, are affected by insurgency. Security sources also expressed doubts on whether Jaffar Ullah is the real name of the writer of the article. It may be mentioned here that the Governor of Assam, Lt Gen (Retd) S K Sinha, in his report on the influx of Bangladeshi nationals into Assam, also expressed apprehension that the demographic invasion might be a part of a greater design to include Assam into Bangladesh. In the report, which was submitted to the President of India on November 8,1998, the Governor also gave an account of the moves by the leaders of earswhile East Pakistan to include Assam in their country and the latest developments prove that a section of people of Bangladesh is still nurturing the idea of including the NE region in Bangladesh.