Chicken’s Neck Chokehold! Himanta Blasts Yunus, Pushes Bold Bypass Plan

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma unleashed a fierce rebuke on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, slamming Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus for calling Bangladesh the “only guardian of the ocean” for India’s landlocked Northeast.

Labeling the remark “offensive and strongly condemnable,” Sarma warned it’s no mere slip but a sign of “deeper strategic agendas” after Yunus pitched China to exploit the region’s geography during a recent four-day Beijing visit.

Yunus’ comment, which surfaced online Monday, spotlighted the Northeast’s seven states—dubbed the Seven Sisters—as cut off from the sea, hinting at Bangladesh as a gateway for Chinese economic reach.

Sarma fired back, arguing it amplifies the “persistent vulnerability narrative” tied to the Siliguri Corridor, or “Chicken’s Neck”—a 20-km-wide strip in West Bengal linking the Northeast to mainland India, hemmed in by Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and China’s looming shadow.

Sarma didn’t stop at words. He demanded urgent action: exploring alternative road and rail routes to bypass the Chicken’s Neck, a choke point historically eyed by “internal elements” to sever the Northeast.

“It’s imperative to build robust networks around and beneath it,” he said, acknowledging the engineering hurdles but insisting “determination and innovation” can prevail. His call echoes past warnings—like his February 2025 Advantage Assam speech—about hostile forces targeting this lifeline. With Yunus’ provocation now in play, Sarma’s push for a strategic overhaul signals a fight to secure the Northeast’s future against external gambits.