Only 467 of the 1.7 lakh declared illegal foreigners have been repatriated to their respective countries from Assam to date, Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya has said on the Republic Day.
He said Assam has referred almost 4.35 lakh cases of suspected nationality to the Foreigners Tribunals till October 31 last year since their inception.
More than 3.5 lakh cases have been disposed of, resulting in nearly 1.7 lakh people being declared as illegal foreigners from the specified territory.
Such less number of deportatoon demonstrates clearly why foreigners issue is semstive and politically hot potato in Assam.
The foreigners illegal migratiom started in 1970s immediately after Bangladesh independence as millions had crossed over to India during Mukti Vahini war with Pakistan and later.
The non violent protest was launched by All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and since then it has remained a mega political issue.
As of date, 14 border outposts and 14 patrol posts are operational in close coordination with the BSF and local police along the India-Bangladesh border in Cachar, Sribhumi, Dhubri and South Salmara districts.
This security arrangement has strengthened Assam's second line of defence against illegal infiltration and trans-border crimes.
Assam is set for yet another round of Assembly polls along with West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It goes without stating that Bangladeshi illegal immigration issue is major poll issue in Assam as well as West Bengal.
Time and again even in the past there have been conflicting and often even ambiguous assertion on the matter.
In 1990s while Congress Chief Minister Hiteshwar Saikia denied about ‘Bangladeshi presence’ in Assam, another Congress veteran S C Jamir (then Chief Minister of Nagaland) made a statement to journalists in 1993 at his Dimapur residence that “Bangladeshis are increasing like rabbits”.
Similarly even after about a decade, the Congress party and governments have often had differences with the Left regime in West Bengal.
On February 6, 2005, the Centre and the Assam government – both under Congress in their affidavits in Supreme Court favoured ‘retaining’ of the controversial Illegal Migrant (Determination by Tribunal) Act (IMDT) – which was said to be illegal migrants friendly.
Even as the UPA-I under Manmohan Singh was supported by the Left parties, the centre’s affidavit in 2005 had blamed Left Front government in West Bengal and said the Marxists’ regime had not taken “adequate steps” regarding stopping the inflow of migrants from Bangladesh despite the Union of India taking several measures to supplement its efforts
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Old records and various documents also reveal that though Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is ‘now opposed’ to the NRC, she had not made any noise against the West Bengal government when 4,89,046 people were ‘deported’ by the erstwhile Leftist dispensation under the Foreigners’ Act from 1983 to 1998.
In fact, on August 4, 2005 speech, as Lok Sabha MP, Mamata Banerjee had said that the "infiltration in Bengal has become a disaster now".
"You can see the Bangladeshi as well as the Indian names in the list. I have both the Bangladeshi and the Indian voters list. This is a very serious matter,” Mamata Banerjee had said.
Old records say the then Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in 2008 had contested the observation of Justice B K Sharma of the Gauhati High Court that if indiscriminate influx was not stalled, “Bangladeshis will become kingmakers”.
“Since my schooldays I have been hearing that Bangladeshis will become kingmakers in Assam. On what basis did the judge say Bangladeshis can become kingmakers in Assam,” Tarun Gogoi had said.
Meanwhile, according to an official survey from between 1971 to 1991 – the Hindu population declined from 72 to 67 per cent while Muslim population rose from 14 per cent to 28.
In 2001, six districts in Assam were Muslim dominated, but in 2011 that figure increased to nine. The Muslim majority districts include Barpeta, Dhubri, Karimganj, Goalpara, Darrang, Bongaigaon, Hailakandi, Nagaon and Morigaon.
In Assam, this demographic transition in some pockets — closer to the international border with Bangladesh and some even away from the border certainly links the episode to Bangladeshi influx.
Ends
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