[Assam] Van Oord ACZ Marine Contractors Gulf & China Railway & Engineering Corporation can build Islands off shore Dubai and Majuli is just being washed away! China is your next-door neighbour, Assam. Just shout, ‘Help us please’.

[Bartta Bistar]

  Majuli needs protection, not mere recognition:
http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=24749ULFA

New Delhi <http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=24749>: The
outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has said that the world's
largest river island of Majuli in Assam needs protection and not mere
recognition.

"Majuli is the nucleus of Assam's culture but due to landslide and erosion
of the Brahmaputra, its land area is decreasing at an alarming rate," the
ULFA said in its monthly
newsletter<http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=24749>Freedom.

"Majuli needs immediate protection for existence, not mere recognition," it
stated.

The group, fighting for an independent Assamese homeland since 1979, blamed
the central government for fooling the people of the state in the name of
World Heritage Site status to the riverine island.

"The Indian government<http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=24749>has
not taken any initiative to save Majuli from erosion and
floods <http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=24749>. It is
surprising why, of late, they are so enthusiastic in acquiring global
recognition for Majuli," the ULFA said.

The Unesco last week decided to defer a decision on according World Heritage
Site status to Majuli until next year.

Majuli, with a population of about 150,000, once covered a prosperous 1,500
sq km that was dotted with
Hindu<http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=24749>monasteries
called xatras. Today, the island is reduced to half its original
size and is prone to extensive flooding and erosion.

The island is regarded as a centre of Vaishnavism, a form of Hinduism
preached by 16th century social reformer Srimanta Sankaradeva.

The ULFA also alleged that some NGOs are engaged in antisocial activists in
the guise of providing
education<http://www.newkerala.com/news3.php?action=fullnews&id=24749>to
children in the island.

"Under the pretext of providing education to the backward masses of Majuli,
some NGOs have been engaged in crimes like religious conversion and
anti-Assam activities.

"Moreover, they are misappropriating huge amounts of funds given for
development of Majuli by various donor organisations," the ULFA said.
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