Opinion August 22, 1983, Forty Years Ago: Rao Defends Fence

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 22, 1983.

By: Editorial

August 22, 2023 03:00 AM IST First published on: Aug 22, 2023 at 03:00 AM IST

Minister for External Affairs P V Narasimha Rao defended Indian plans to erect a barbed wire fence along the Indo-Bangladesh border to stop infiltration from Bangladesh. Addressing a press conference at the conclusion of his talks in Dhaka, Rao said he saw no reason why the Indian proposal should in any way adversely affect relations between the two countries.

Tamil Question

A Amirthalingam, Secretary General of Sri Lankans Tamil United Liberation Front, said that members of his party would not attend Parliament and take an oath of loyalty under the sixth amendment to the Constitution “thereby making our seats fall vacant at the end of three months”. He said that the TULF had originally decided at its national convention on July 24 that party MPs would resign their seats (protesting against the extension of the life of Parliament).

Pak Democracy Call

The detained ‘Frontier Gandhi’, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, is reported to have asked his followers to take part fully in the ongoing Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) in Pakistan. The 92-year-old leader gave the call shortly before being shifted to Abbottabad, about 120 km from Islamabad, three days ago.

Fresh Assam Protest

The Assam movement leaders resumed their agitation on the foreign nationals issue after a lapse of five months.It was suspended in March this year to help the rehabilitation of the victims of the massacres before and during the elections in the state.