Mitali De
People at the helms of affairs in New Delhi and Kolkata must know that the 4,096-kilometer-long and porous India-Bangladesh border is a time bomb that will explode sooner or later. In West Bengal and particularly places like Maldah, South Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri and other areas adjoining Indo-Bangladesh border, illegal immigration has been a long standing problem.
In Maldah and Jalpaiguri alone more than 70 per cent of rikshaw pullers and workers in the unorganized sector of labour are from Bangladesh without valid papers. In the light of the recent terrorist attacks in different parts of the country, security agencies have been expressing concern that these illegal immigrants could well be involved or lured in terrorist activities in exchange of money or other procurement.
This Citizen Reporter who has been travelling in the entire region during the recent panchayat polls reports that the Border Security Force and the CRPF who have been scrutinizing these polls, have expressed concern what they called political connivance at such infiltration.
The 4,096-kilometer-long and porous India-Bangladesh border makes for easy crossing. In Nagaland, the population of Muslims, mostly illegal migrants from Bangladesh, has more than trebled in the past decade - the figure rising from 20,000 in 1991 to more than 75,000 in 2001. Illegal migrants have settled in various Indian states, including West Bengal, Assam, Bihar (in the northeastern districts of Katihar, Sahebganj, Kishanganj and Purnia), Tripura and even in Delhi.
The steady flow of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh has significantly altered the region''s demographic complexion, particularly in the border districts of West Bengal and Assam, and with important political implications. In Assam illegal migrants affect state politics in a major way, having acquired a critical say in an estimated 50 of the state's 126 assembly constituencies.
At the same time, the steady growth of radical and militant extremists spewing Islamic jargon in Bangladesh since September 11, 2001, and Dhaka's inability, or unwillingness, to tackle the same has raised the stakes further for India. Yet to date it has proved impossible for New Delhi to get an action plan to deal with the problem off the ground. The late national security adviser, J N "Mani" Dixit, was reportedly aware and concerned about these developments. But he did not find eager ears in the Manmohan Singh cabinet to listen and attend to this real danger. It is also known that the US Embassy is aware of the danger, but will not say anything lest it be construed as interfering in another sovereign state's affairs. Internal quibbling among the powers-that-be in Delhi over threat perception priorities has worsened the situation.
Meanwhile, the 1983 legislation that stymied India's historic immigration law, the Foreigners Act of 1946, and seriously tipped the scales in favor of the illegal immigrants - the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act (IMDT) - was recently reinforced by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. For illegal immigrants, many of whom could be anti-India (or anti-Hindu, whatever fits the objective) extremists and Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) operatives, the playing field remains better than level.
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