♦ The hall is well-lit, thanks to the shafts of sunlight that come through the large openings where there were once windows and some scattered apertures in the tin roof and the walls. The hall once hosted a plant to process the famous pineapples of Hmarkhawlein, about 40km from Silchar, in Cachar district.

♦ At Anipur in Karimganj district, a once-flourishing sugar mill lies closed. The farmers at Cheragi no longer cultivate the sugarcane that fed the plant. They have gone back to growing paddy.

♦ The Modern Food Industry had set up a juice concentrate plant at Ramnagar with an investment of Rs 1 crore. Even before the first drop of juice could come out of the plant, the project was aborted. It now has turned into a transport company's garage for its buses.

♦ The placards at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election rally at Panchgram in Hailakandi district read: "Welcome Hon'ble Prime Minister. Save Cachar Paper Mill. Save Barak Valley."

We in Barak Valley are paying the price of tolerance," fumed Sanjit Debnath. "This area has remained neglected and the powers that be at Dispur have been exceptionally indifferent to its development needs," he said. "We have been tolerant and the various agitations now and then have been democratic and peaceful."

Debnath is president of the newly floated Barakbhumi Ganatantrik Dal whose avowed aim is to separate Barak Valley from Assam. The party has not fielded candidates in the elections this time but is extending support to some like-minded candidates.

"Like the British then, the Assam government has also kept Barak Valley as its colony. The British once ruled Assam and Cachar from Dhaka, now the Assam government rules Barak Valley from the Brahmaputra Valley and the exploitation has continued," he said. "The only way out is for Barak to be on its own, out of the clutches of the Brahmaputra Valley," he said.

Barak Valley had comprised only Cachar till it was cut up to create two more districts of Hailakandi and Karimganj. The separation cry is not new, though. It was first raised by the Union Territory Demand Committee. The Barakbhumi Ganatantrik Dal is backed by the UTDC, which was formed in the seventies.

"Politicians who represent Barak Valley do not have the spine to raise our demand before their leadership as they are obliged to them for being given tickets to contest in the elections," Debnath said. "It is time we stopped begging from the Brahmaputra Valley."

However, all are not ready to buy the separate Barak Valley demand. The opposition, though, stems from arguments that have religious undertones.

"A section of the Hindus wishes to remain with Assam because they feel that if Barak were to become a separate entity then Muslims would start controlling them. On the other hand, Muslims fear just the opposite," said Samiran Choudhury, who was once associated with another separate-Barak movement in the nineties.

"At the same time, there is also a feeling that leaders of the respective communities put forth such arguments only for their own vested interest which are served better if Barak remains with Assam," he said.

Jyotilal Chowdhury, author and veteran journalist, said, "There is no industry in this area despite potential for several. This is a classic case of stepmotherly treatment."

According to him, all the industrial units that had closed down over the years were financially viable and yet those were allowed to die. "Barak Valley can hope to get justice only if all its public representatives irrespective of their party affiliations get together and raise their voice," Chowdhury said. Barak Valley sends 15 MLAs to the 126-seat Assembly

At Hmarkhawlien, L. Thanmawia Pajamt, vice-president of Hmar Supreme House, said the pineapples of the area were perhaps the best in the world with a very high sugar content and its cultivation was the main source of income for the people.

"Unfortunately, there has been no government intervention to promote marketing of the fruit. The growers are left to fend for themselves, which in turn helps middlemen. A fruit processing unit could change the economic scenario of this place," he said. About a crore of pineapples are grown every year.

Reverend Lalliensung, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of India, lamented that politicians only came to Hmarkhawlien before the elections, made their promises and went back. "Few spare a thought for us," he said.

Perhaps unknown to many, National Highway 37 now lies in a straight line connecting Karimganj district - right from the border with Bangladesh at Sutarkandi - to Imphal, replacing NH 53. In its earlier alignment from Goalpara to Tinsukia in the Brahmaputra Valley, the highway had passed through some of the more prosperous areas of Assam.

Barak Valley would hope and pray that NH 37 brings it luck as well.