Sylhet-Meghalaya Borders
Fresh survey team visits a number of disputed points
The new survey team, formed for conducting the joint survey of Sylhet-Meghalaya borders, visited some border areas at Tamabil, Naljury and Padua Tamabil yesterday.
The joint survey, however, has remained suspended since June 20 as hundreds of people in the border areas raised protest and agitation against what they said 'attempt to hand over Bangladesh lands to the Indians in the name of joint border survey'.
The team for survey of Sylhet-Meghalaya borders has been changed more than once since the authorities took the initiative on December 7 last year.
The new Bangladesh team led by Assistant Survey Officer Ferdous Hossain took over the charge from Assistant Director Dobir Uddin Ahmed, who had worked for the survey in Sylhet borders since May 18.
Earlier another team had worked for the purpose.
Meanwhile, locals under the banner of conscious citizens will form a human chain at Jaintapur upazila headquarters at 3:00pm and at Gowainghat at 11:00am today to lodge protest against the 'bid to hand over lands to the Indians in the name of joint survey on Sylhet-Meghalaya borders'. Human chains were also formed at the upazila headquarters of Companiganj and at Kanaighat yesterday.
On Monday afternoon, five people sustained injuries as the supporters and activists of the ruling Awami League locked in a clash at a view exchange meeting at Jaintapur upazila auditorium in the presence of deputy commissioner and superintendent of police Sylhet and chairmen of Jaintapur and Gowainghat upazila parishads. Suspended for half an hour due to the clash, the meeting later resumed and continued for an hour.
Sylhet district administration organised the meeting in a bid to pacify the ongoing commotion among the locals who had been protesting the joint border survey.
"The border people were misguided by wrong information. We hope such view exchange meetings will help to clear the things. The deadline for border survey is June 30 but there will be another extension to complete the task," Sylhet Deputy Commissioner Abu Syed Mohammad Hashim told this correspondent yesterday.
Although the joint border survey was first scheduled to complete by January 15 this year, the authorities had to extend it thrice.
In the face of protests by hundreds of Bangladesh nationals on different border areas including Tamabil, Sonarhat, Amswapnapur, Naljur and Dibir Haor during the last two weeks, the survey officials of Meghalaya and Bangladesh had to suspend their job.
Besides, the surveyors had faced much trouble while attempting to survey the lands, attached to the Tamabil International Check post, claimed by the Indians.
Prior to the recent protests by the locals, stalemate prevailed for months as Bangladesh officials could not agree with the Indians over survey points on the adversely possessed lands on different borders in the region.
The Indians were pressing to start survey from different points without any supplementary records and ignoring the existing border pillars, set after 1947.
The survey was hampered time and again since it began on December 7 last year, as the Indian Khasia tribesmen pressed for new points inside Bangladesh territory for the survey.
An uneasy calm has been prevailing on about 20 kilometre border from Sonarhat to Dibir Haor in Gowainghat, Kanaighat and in Jaintapur upazilas as the joint border survey on the adversely possessed lands began on December 7 last year.
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