India’s move to ratify its land boundary agreement with Bangladesh has stalled, as the United Progressive Alliance government on Tuesday faced stiff resistance from the opposition in trying to introduce a Bill in Parliament.
Published : 07 May 2013, 10:37 AM
Two parliamentarians from the Asom Gana Parishad – a regional party of northeastern Indian state of Assam – tried to snatch a copy of the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill from India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, when the latter was trying to introduce it in the Rajya Sabha – the upper House of Parliament.
The Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill, 2013 proposes to amend the First Schedule of the Indian Constitution to exchange disputed territories under occupation of the two countries in accordance with the 1974 bilateral Land Boundary Agreement and the additional protocol during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in September 2011.
The First Schedule of the Indian Constitution lists the States of India and defines their territories.
Khurshid on Tuesday made an attempt to introduce the ratification Bill in the Rajya Sabha at a time when the opposition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party was trying to stall the proceedings of the House, demanding resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar over the alleged move to interfere in a probe into the alleged corruption in allocation of coal blocks.
The MPs of the opposition parties were also demanding resignation of Rail Minister Pawan Bansal as his nephew was recently arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation – the country’s premier investigating agency – in an alleged case of bribery for recruitment in the higher echelons of the Indian Railways.
Even as the ruckus continued, Khurshid rose to introduce the Bill, but the AGP MPs, Kumar Deepak Das and Birendra Baishya, rushed to him and tried to snatch papers from him. They were prevented from doing so by some MPs of the ruling Congress as well as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Rajiv Shukla. Khurshid, however, sat without introducing the Bill and Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, P J Kurien, then adjourned the House for an hour.
The pandemonium continued when the House reassembled at 2 pm (Indian Standard Time) and it was then adjourned for the day.
“We will continue to oppose any move by the Union Government that goes against the interests of Assam. We want a good relation with our neighbouring country, but not at the expense of Assam,” Baishya later told journalists outside Parliament.
Ever since Dhaka and New Delhi added the protocol to the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement in September 2011 to finally settle the boundary and resolve disputes over enclaves and adversely possessed pieces of land, the AGP has been vociferously opposing the move to ratify the deal.
The 2011 protocol provides for swapping 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh with 51 Bangladesh enclaves in India and for preserving status quo on the adversely possessed swathes of land.
Though the BJP – the principal opposition party in Indian Parliament – was initially not firm on opposing the Congress-led coalition Government’s move to ratify the Land Boundary Agreement, it hardened its stand after its former ally AGP sought its help to stall the Bill.
Senior BJP MP and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, earlier sent a notice to the Rajya Sabha secretariat, arguing that the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill, 2013 would seek to change a “basic feature” of the Indian Constitution and thus would go against an order by the Supreme Court of India. He pointed out that the Supreme Court of India had in a verdict 40 years ago held that Parliament could not make such radical changes in the Constitution of India.
Indian Parliament has been witnessing a logjam ever since the Budget Session resumed after a month-long break on April 22 last, with the Opposition stepping up protest against the United Progressive Alliance Government, which is being blamed for a series of corruption scandals.
Singh’s Government needs at least two-third majority in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha of Indian Parliament to get the Bill passed. Though the Congress-led Government does not have enough numbers in both the Houses of Indian Parliament to ensure a smooth passage of the Bill, New Delhi is still keen to introduce it, apparently to reassure Bangladesh Government of its commitment to ratify the Land Boundary Agreement and the protocol added to it in September 2011.