Bangla Influx Taking Assam the Kashmir Way

Upakjyoti Borah

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee admitted recently that a large-scale influx from Bangladesh posed a threat to India, especially to Assam, Tripura and West Bengal. His statement offers nothing new, for the Centre has known this since a long time; it only shows that he has renounced his denial mode.

The large-scale influx of Bangladeshis into Assam has been continuing since pre-independence days. It gave rise to a historic movement, the Assam Agitation (sometimes called the Assam Movement) between 1979 and 1985 to force the government to identify and expel the illegal migrants. The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) came to power after the Assam Agitation riding on a popularity wave but failed to take steps to expel the Bangladeshis.

The problem has now reached epidemic proportions with the rise of Islamic fundamentalist groups in many parts of Assam, especially those parts dominated by the migrants. It has led to a demographic upheaval with an estimated 11 out of 27 districts in Assam becoming Muslim majority districts in contrast to only one Muslim majority district at the time of India's independence. This massive influx consists of Muslims of Bangladeshi origin.

On the other hand, Assamese Muslims share a common culture with the Assamese Hindus and have been very vocal against this influx. A few Bangladeshi Hindus have settled down in Assam post 1971 and have been accepted into the society on compassionate grounds.

The large-scale migration of illegal Bangladeshis has led to an acute unemployment problem with almost 20 lakh unemployed youths in Assam, many of whom have taken to the gun. Besides, it has had a disastrous effect on the environment with the denudation of forests and killing of wildlife.

The State and the Central government have been ignoring this problem out of concern for their vote-banks. Very few of the illegal migrants are caught and even fewer deported due to various loopholes in the law. Migrants, after entering India through Assam, have moved to various North-eastern states and other parts of the country, creating a security problem. Illegal migrants now have a decisive say in some 50 of the state's 126 assembly constituencies.
The indigenous people in the state are in danger of becoming a minority in their own land. The former governor of Assam, Lieutenant-General (retd.) S K Sinha, in a report had warned that, if the demographic invasion of Assam was not tackled on a priority basis, the survival of the Assamese people would be at stake and their employment opportunities would be reduced. Several Islamic fundamentalist outfits operate in Assam.

The presence of lakhs of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Assam has provided a fertile recruiting and breeding ground for these terror outfits. The growth of radical Islam in neighboring Bangladesh has also helped these outfits. In 2005, the Supreme Court had struck down the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act.

However, the amended Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Order 2006 contains the same provisions as the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, which makes the detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshis from Assam very difficult. The attitude of the Central government has also alienated the mainstream Assamese who feel that the Centre is paying little attention to an issue which concerns their survival, which has stoked their separatist tendencies.
Unlike many of the North-eastern states, Assam does not have an Inner-Line Permit System, which makes it easy for anyone to settle in Assam. The border fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam is proceeding at a tardy pace.

It does not need a soothsayer to predict what lies ahead for Assam and the Northeast if the jehadists succeed. Bangladesh has been providing sanctuary to many of the militant outfits in the Northeast and the Indian government seems to be helpless in this matter. Often the BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) have attacked the BSF (Border Security Force) outposts, as in 2001 at Pyrdiwah in Megalaya, where 16 BSF men were killed, many of them were brutally tortured to death.

The time is ripe for India to learn from its past mistakes and take urgent steps to tackle this threat. As they say, a stitch in time saves nine.

The writer is Research Scholar, JNU. Courtesy IPCS

http://indiapost.com/article/perspective/2713/

ULFA recruiting Bangladeshis

SHILLONG – The recruitment of Bangladeshi nationals by the outlawed ULFA came to light today with the BSF arresting an ultra, a native of the neighbouring country, from Meghalaya, reports PTI. Troops of the BSF’s 35 Battalion nabbed Parameshwar Chandra Kotch near the Chandabui outpost in Meghalaya’s West Garo hills district today.

A resident of Sherpur district in Bangladesh, Kotch has been working for the ULFA since 2001 under the direct guidance of ULFA leader Ranju Chowdhury at the Baragajni camp of the group in Bangladesh, the BSF quoted Kotch as saying during investigation.

Kotch said he used to collect information for the ULFA from the Indo-Bangla border areas.

The BSF claims that Kotch was instrumental in recruiting youths of Meghalaya and Assam into the outfit.

He has ferried youths in groups of three-four at least 15-20 times from Assam and Meghalaya to the rebel camps of Bangladesh, he said during investigation.

The arrest comes in the backdrop of India pressing on the neighbouring country to dismantle the ULFA camps working in its territory and flush out the militants. Dhaka has been denying about the presence of Indian militants in its territory.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=may2708/at03

Bangladesh’s new citizens

The Statesman Editorial - 24th May, 2008,

The emotive issue of “Urdu-speaking Bihari Muslims” in Bangladesh is as old as the country itself and has been a permanent irritant in subcontinental equations. Yet the judicial intervention after 37 years addresses only part of the problem. By virtue of last Sunday’s order of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, children of Urdu-speaking Bihari Muslims ~ a euphemism for stranded Pakistanis ~ are to be granted Bangladeshi citizenship. The operative part of the ruling is that it will benefit those born after 1971. Which begs the question as to whether this needed to be reinforced by a judicial pronouncement. Under international law, they are citizens by birth, and it follows ipso facto that they are citizens of Bangladesh. More than labouring the obvious, the judgment has ensured that this post-liberation generation will form a vital segment of the electorate as the ruling comes with the icing of voting rights. This is calculated to benefit the present establishment under the influence of an army with pro-Pakistan leanings. Critical too is its timing as it comes months ahead of the elections scheduled for December.Comforting as it might appear to be on the face of it, the problem might fester for a long while yet. And most crucially, and also of course damagingly, for India as it has been a major factor behind the relentless influx since the late seventies. An estimated 150,000 Bihari Muslims will now become lawful citizens. The crux of the matter relates to the rest of the approximately 300,000, specifically the previous generation who migrated to East Pakistan after Partition, remained there during the liberation struggle, and who are believed to have backed the Pakistani army during the war. They have been reduced to a stateless category in Bangladesh, nowhere men whom Pakistan will not accept. Which precisely has compelled hundreds of them to take advantage of the porous border for an exit route to West Bengal.For 37 years, Pakistan has ignored the issue. So the fundamental problem shall fester as there has never been an inclination on the part of Dhaka, still less of Islamabad, to work out an agreement on repatriation. They have been stranded in Bangladesh since 1971, and those among them who have not illegally crossed over to India are languishing in the squalid refugee camps set up by its government and the UNHCR. The ruling makes it plain that Bangladesh will accept the younger generation not least because they constitute a potential vote-bank. Their forebears have not been recognised and are doomed to remain stateless. The fact of the matter remains ~ West Bengal has borne the brunt of the problem as tens of thousands of unrepatriated and “stranded” Pakistanis have sneaked in over the past three decades. That, in sum, is the reality of what passes for South Asian regional cooperation.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=3&theme=&usrsess=1&id=205249

Rajasthan Govt targets illegal Bangladeshi migrants

Jaipur/Udaipur,May 16: Illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Rajasthan will be identified in 30 days and could be deported as they came under the scanner of the state government after the serial blasts while a hotelier claimed he saw one of the suspects in Udaipur two days before the attack.
Investigators got fresh leads like ten bicycles having been bought about two to three hours before Tuesday night's blasts that left 64 dead but a breakthrough eluded them.
With the Bangladesh-based HuJI being suspected to be behind the blasts, state PWD Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore said the state government is on a hunt for Bangladeshis with suspected criminal background. Forty such Bangladeshi nationals have been rounded up so far and are being interrogated, he said.
Eight of them were detained in Ajmer. All District Collectors and Superintendents of Police have been directed to complete within 30 days the process of identifying Bangladeshi migrants living with or without voter ID cards and/or ration cards and get them verified, Rathore said.
The procedures for deporting the identified illegal nationals could then be started, he said. The process has begun everywhere in the state, he added. On Friday the State's Principal Home Secretary discussed with his Central counterpart the option of deporting illegally staying Bangladeshi nationals, he added.
Rathore sad 141 people were injured of whom 108 were in a "very serious." condition.
The owner of SamorBagh restaurant in Udaipur Kamal Joshi was interrogated by police after he claimed today that a person bearing resemblance to one of the sketches of suspects released on Thursday night was seen along with a woman in his restaurant on Sunday evening.
Joshi told the police that the man was accompanied by a young woman and both of them came to the restaurant at about 4 PM on Sunday.
The woman entered the restaurant wearing a saree but changed into a salwar kameez before leaving with the man, Joshi said, according to the police. They did not take anything in the restaurant, he said.
The in-charge of Surajpole police station Himmat Singh said investigations were on to check the movement of the duo in Udaipur.
Regarding the blasts probe, Rathore said sleuths from the state, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh were working on a number of leads including use of bicycles, bag, and e-mail received from Ghaziabad.
Rathore said the purchase of eight cycles which were used in the blasts were confirmed but the sellers of two more cycles were yet to be identified.
A car seized by the Railway police outside Jaipur station on Thursday night belonged to one Afzal who went to Chennai to visit his ailing mother and left the vehicle in the no-parking zone, Rathore said. The police was investigating the matter following suspicions that it may have been used by the cycle bombers.
The e-mail sent on behalf a little known group claiming responsibility for the blats and traced to a Ghaziabad cyber cafe was being examined and its hard disc would be procured soon, Rathore said.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Rajasthan-Govt-targets-illegal-Bangladeshi-migrants/310635/

One dead, 3 hurt in N Bengal explosion

(It is interesting to note - that N.Bengal acts as one of the corridors for jihadi infiltrators from Bangladesh into India & that the blast reported below was engineered keeping the explosives on a bicycle - some experts believe this was a dry run prior to the Jaipur blasts where the some of the explosives were also tied to a simple bicyle.)

13 May 2008, 0559 hrs IST,Pinak Priya Bhattacharya,TNN
JALPAIGURI: A man was killed and three others were injured in a blast at Barovisha in Jalpaiguri district on Monday. Gobind Sharma (28), a truck driver, was killed while Sudam Burman, Ranjit Saha and Suresh Sha were injured. Suresh is the owner of the truck that Gobind was driving. Police have claimed that the goons used an improvised explosive device of low intensity that went off around 10.20 am near the MVI office by the NH-31 in Barovisha, located along the Assam-Bengal border. The bomb was planted in a cycle lying in front of the office. They had left the truck and entered the MVI office to get permission to enter Assam. The bomb exploded when Suresh and Gobind came out of the MVI office with their permit. All the injured have been hospitalised. Earlier, on February 20, a bomb planted in a cycle exploded in front of the commercial tax office, killing one and injuring four. This time, too, goons used the same method to carry out the blast. This particular stretch of Barovisha remains busy throughout the day as vehicles keep moving to and from Assam and every single vehicle has to stop at the Barovisha checkpost for permission to enter Assam or Bengal. The area also houses a number of offices. During the February blast, it was suspected that the Cobra Commandos, a tribal insurgent outfit of Assam, was behind the blast. But police could not establish any link. So, this time, police have not named any specific outfit as their suspect. In October 2006, too, two serial blasts had rocked Barovisha, which has always had been a disturbed area. The place is used as a safe passage by both United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) militants to go to their camps in the hills of Bhutan. Police have not yet named any specific outfit as their suspect. IGP, North Bengal, KL Tamta has gone to the spot for inspection. A team of experts will be coming from Kolkata to examine the type of explosive used in the blast.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Kolkata_/One_dead_3_hurt_in_N_Bengal_explosion/articleshow/3034743.cms

Simi activist detained by Jaipur blast investigators

Statesman News Service JAIPUR, May 17: A special investigation team probing into the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur has reportedly arrested a SIMI activist from Sawai Madhopur district in the early morning today. The state police has released three more sketches of people suspected to be involved in the serial bomb blasts and announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh to anyone providing clues about the perpetrators of the blasts that killed 64 and left over 200 injured. Though the Jaipur police have not yet confirmed the report of the arrest of the SIMI activist, police sources in Sawai Madhopur have told 'The Statesman' that a special police team from Jaipur had indeed carried out an operation in their district.The arrested youth, reportedly named Sajid. was closely associated with a madrasa in Sawai Madhopur and is also believed to be a member of the Rajasthan wing of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Sajid apparently had close links with the SIMI operatives from Madhya Pradesh. The special team is also focusing on the madrasas operating in the Shekawati belt comprising of Jhunjhunu, Churu and Sikar which had come under the police scanner after the Ajmer Dargah blast. The region also has active hawala transaction network and the police are trying to trace out if money was channeled to fund any terrorist operations. "A number of people have come forward claiming that they have seen the suspects from the police sketches but we are yet to make any major breakthrough in the case," said Mr Saurabh Shrivastav, deputy inspector general of police.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?date=2008-05-18&usrsess=1&clid=2&id=231201

Blasts leads point to HuJI

Blasts leads point to HuJI Statesman News Service NEW DELHI, May 14: With leads in investigations into yesterday’s devastating serial terror blasts in Jaipur increasingly pointing to the suspected involvement of the Bangladesh-based terrorist group, Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islamia (HuJI) ~ which is said to carry out similar strikes sometimes in tandem with the Pakistan-based terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiyaba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) elsewhere in India ~, the Centre today said the Jaipur attack betrayed a “deep-rooted and very well-planned conspiracy” to disturb the country’s communal harmony, indicating the hands of a “neighbouring” country. Without specifying any country however, the Union minister of state for home, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal told a news conference here that it could be any of the neighbouring countries ~ Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar ~ that had been gripped by internal turmoil. Mr Jaiswal, who earlier visited the Jaipur blasts sites, refused to specify the organisation involved in the attack, saying investigations are on. “I will not like to name the dangerous outfits.” To a specific query whether HuJI was behind it, he remained evasive, merely saying that those involved would be “thoroughly exposed” very soon. Significantly, the minister said there could be a link between the Jaipur blast and those that had occurred earlier in places such as Varanasi, Faizabad, Ajmer and Hyderabad. In most such terror strikes, including Malegaon, there had been tell-tale signs of HuJI’s footprints. In several of these strikes, like Jaipur, explosive ammonium nitrate laced with the deadly RDX, fitted with shrapnels or ball-bearings to maximise casualties and attached to timers, had been planted on bicycles. The modus operandi also involved carrying out strikes in or around premises of temples on Tuesdays, like in Jaipur and Varanasi, and of mosques on Fridays or its eve, like in Hyderabad and Malegaon, with an evident awareness that these days especially attract more devotees of these faiths there.BJP leader Mr LK Advani and chief minister Ms Vasundhara Raje today reiterated Bharatiya Janata Party's demand to revive the draconian law of POTA which according to them was the only viable option to combat the menace of terrorism. As per official figures, 63 persons lost their lives and 217 were injured. The deceased include seven women, eight children and two policemen. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has sanctioned Rs one lakh as ex-gratia for the families of those killed in the serial from the PM National Relief Fund. Those injured in the blasts will get Rs 50,000. The government has also announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased and one lakh rupees to the injured victims "Out of the 63 who died in the blast, 11 were from outside Jaipur. Special medical teams have been summoned to Jaipur from Udaipur, Jodhpur and Ajmer. Seventeen dead bodies are yet to be identified,” according to Mr Rajendra Singh Rathore, minister for parliamentary affairs.Meanwhile the district administration has decided not to relax curfew imposed at various places including Galta gate, Ramganj, Subhash Chowk and Kotwali in the city. Areas under 13 police stations inside the city will be under curfew from 9 am to 4 pm.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?date=2008-05-15&usrsess=1&clid=2&id=230686

Illegal Immigration: India's Ticking Time Bomb

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.

http://www.mynews.in/fullstory.aspx?storyid=5152#

India's porous border, HuJI's lifeline (CNN - Special)

Guwahati: With Bangladesh-based terror outfit HuJI under scanner for carrying out the Jaipur blasts, Assam’s porous border has become the focus of intelligence agencies.

Experts say the India-Bangladesh border has been providing militants easy passage into India for a long time. Even the use of bicycle bombs is a terror strategy common to the attacks in the Northeast.

"Through these porous borders, along with illegal Bangladeshis, the Jehadis, the ISI agents and the HuJI terrorists are entering into India. They are roaming in Assam and throughout the country,” says Advisor, AASU, Samujjwal Bhattacharya.

There are at least 30 militant groups in the Northeast. Many reportedly have camps in Bangladesh and the leaders of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) are allegedly hiding somewhere in Dhaka.

However, these groups often do not share Islamist militancy ideologies.

In 2002, nine of these fundamentalist groups including the HuJI formed the Bangladesh Islamic Manch. Many Indian militant groups in the Northeast are being provided with logistical support by the HuJI and other elements inside Bangladesh.

So if the HuJI demands support in return, groups within Northeast will be obliged to assist them.
"It has to be reciprocal for each other. So when you look at northeast militant groups whether Bodoland or ULFA at different stages of time they are taking shelter in different areas," says Prof Anuradha Dutta of Peace Studies, OKDI.

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/special-indias-porous-border-hujis-lifeline/65306-3-1.html

Adding To Terror Network

Hordes from Bangladesh
Bibhu Prasad Routray Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management, New Delhi

The Parliamentary Standing Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs, in its recent report, has asked the Government to monitor the country's eastern border, saying large-scale illegal migration from Bangladesh is threatening the country's security and economy. The report said that a large presence of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants posed a grave threat to India's security and economy as many border-crossers come with sophisticated weapons and ammunition to fuel terrorism. They also carry a large amount of fake Indian currency to weaken the economy, the report added.The Annual Report of the Ministry of Home Affairs, 2007-08, too, has expressed similar apprehensions. It reads, "The hand of Pakistan-based terrorist organisations -- LeT and JeM -- and, increasingly of the Bangladesh-based HuJI, known to have close links with ISI, has been observed in most of" the terrorist activities in the country.

While for the last couple of years, the Pakistani terror network originating in Bangladesh has received some attention, the critical role played by the illegal Bangladeshi migrants in India in such operations appears to have been lost sight of. Even the hullabaloo over the ever-growing number of migrants from Bangladesh, mostly described as demographic invasion of a serious kind, by mainstream political parties has hardly taken note of the subversive potential of the rather innocuous population flow from our eastern neighbour. And the political parties, for whom these migrants have become lucrative vote-banks, have taken great care to push any debate linking them with terror elements under the carpet. There is, consequently, very little open source information linking the illegal migrants with the terror attacks in the country.

Benefiting from such premeditated ambivalence, concentrations of the Bangladeshi migrants in big metropolises like New Delhi and Mumbai and also the smaller built up areas, have provided the terrorists crossing over from across the border a safe parking space. Among the large swathe of largely economic migrants, the terror elements have found anonymity, easy mingling space and also potential recruits.The first successful attack carried out by the Bangladesh-based HuJI using the facilities provided by the illegal migrants was the January 22, 2002, attack at the American Centre in Kolkata. An early morning attack by a group of HuJI cadre left five policemen dead on the spot, responsibility for which was claimed by two organisations, the HuJI and the Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF). In fact, the ARCF was an adjunct of the HuJI, formed and manned largely by Bangladeshi migrants in India and some experienced HUJI-B cadre in India who were trained at ISI-backed training camps in Pakistan. It was formed at a village, 15 km from Habibpur town, populated by illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Malda district of West Bengal. Footprints of Bangladeshi nationals, often illegal residents in this country, have been unambiguous in the number of terror strikes in Indian urban centres that have taken place in the last couple of years.

Bangladesh has been a common thread running through the attacks carried out in New Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Hyderabad and Nasik. Two Bangladeshi nationals, Masuluddin and Hussain, absconding suspects in the twin blasts in Hyderabad in August 2007 are known to have been staying in the Hyderabad city illegally for two years. In April 2008, a Bangladeshi HuJI militant was arrested from Agartala where he had been staying for a couple of months, at the behest of a Minister in the State Cabinet.The official response to the threat remains clueless and strangely dependant on non-existent Bangladeshi co-operation. On April 23, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Parliament, "Illegal migration is a genuine problem, but Bangladesh refuses to recognise it. How this could be solved when Bangladesh does not want to accept it?"

On the other hand, the Government's predicament is understandable. Border fencing, a critical component of the country's border management policy, continues to lie in doldrums. In nearly two decades of fencing projects, over two phases, 61 per cent of the 4,096-km long international border with Bangladesh have been fenced. According to the Government's own admission, most of the 854-km long fence erected during the Phase-I of the process have already been damaged and does not serve the purpose it was constructed for.

This means that the country's security will continue to be vulnerable in the foreseeable future.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/agenda1.asp?main_variable=sundaypioneer%2Fdialogue&file_name=dial3.txt&counter_img=3

Hordes from Bangladesh

A well-known story retold

Hordes from Bangladesh:

Saradindu Mukherji Professor of History, University of Delhi

The expose on the close relationship of Mr Shahid Chowdhury, the Communist Minister in Tripura, and his Bangladeshi wife with various terrorist organisations, including those based in Bangladesh, leading to his dismissal does not shock any more. Nor does the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs on the nature and ramifications of the problem created by illegal infiltration from Bangladesh say anything new.

I recall the sense of amazement and disbelief many years back in a major conference at Oxford when an international gathering of scholars learnt that the authorities in India have not only actively encouraged illegal migration from Bangladesh but also provided them with ration cards, besides helping them buy properties and registering themselves as voters. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, former President of India, during his term as a Minister in Assam, had reportedly played a pioneering role in getting thousands of Muslims from erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to settle in Assam. The barrister who represented Babri Masjid Action Committee and former Chief Minster of West Bengal, Mr Siddhartha Shankar Ray, had reportedly helped thousands of Bihari Muslims from Bangladesh, who had collaborated with the Pakistanis in the 1971 war for Bangladeshi liberation, settle in West Bengal. So, did Ghani Khan Chowdhury in Malda, and many others.

As against them, Mr TV Rajeswar, as Governor of West Bengal (currently, the Governor of Uttar Pradesh) and Gen SK Sinha, as Governor of Assam (now the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir) have exposed the dangers of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh. Despite many such reports, vigorous debates in our legislatures and news reports in the media, nothing has been done. One may recall the fate of a senior IPS officer in Assam who was suspended by Anwara Taimur, the then Chief Minister, for exposing this demographic aggression by Bangladesh.

However, we must deal sympathetically with bona fide refugees like Hindus, Buddhists and other kafirs -- the victims of the most sustained religious cleansing in Bangladesh. They were thrown to the wolves in the erstwhile East Bengal after 1946. As for Muslims, we have to remember that India was divided on the basis of religion and Muslims got their desired homeland. While Pakistan has almost got rid of polytheists and Bangladesh is left with just eight per cent non-Muslims, the Muslim population continues to rise alarmingly in India. Hence, Muslim migrants from Bangladesh -- far from being seen as refugees -- need to be deported at the earliest. We cannot permit another partition, no matter what our jihad-friendly buddhijibis and politicians say.

Mr Krishnan Srinivasan, India's former envoy to Bangladesh, writes in his book, The Jamdani Revolution, about his plan for a "team of international correspondents taken to the places of self-evident migration along the West Bengal borders" being accepted by Indian officials, but rejected by then West Bengal's Chief Minister Jyoti Basu on the specious plea that it would cause "communal disharmony". Actually, that would have exposed the complicity of Mr Basu's Government in helping illegal infiltrators to settle in West Bengal.

Mr Bibhuti Bhushan Nandy, a former IPS officer, has also noted Mr Basu's brazen denial when he once confronted him about Bangladeshi infiltration. Pressed further, Mr Basu just kept mum.

Our spineless and terrorist-friendly politicians go out of their way to encourage others to settle down -- many of whom have no civilisational love for India and who will one day become the nucleus of a separatist movement. Many of them are already involved in such activities across the country.

Suggestions for grant of work permit to these infiltrators must be rejected. The alleged difficulties to distinguish between people from the other side of Padma are spurious. All major regions of Bengal are identifiable by their distinct accent and dialect, and it is not difficult for the knowledgeable to find out someone's place of origin after separating Hindus, Buddhists and the occasional Taslima Nasreens. Deportation is not really a Herculean task. The Government can do it within 72 hours if it really wants.

Otherwise, our "sleeper-cells" active even during Bakhtiyar Khilji's attack on Bihar and Bengal, and very much active even after centuries, will join hands with these infiltrators to carry out their sacred mission of Islamisation.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/agenda1.asp?main_variable=sundaypioneer%2Fdialogue&file_name=dial2%2Etxt&counter_img=2

WELCOMING TO A NEW HOME --- Bangladesh's Islamic Migrants in India

FIFTH COLUMN - Satrujit Banerjee

A front-page newspaper report last month put some numbers on the worst kept secret among demographers in the country. It revealed that “intelligence agencies” had pegged the inward flow of illegal migrants from Bangladesh to India at “anywhere between 1.5 crore and 2 crore”. The survey, conducted discreetly in 1992, was “kept secret in view of the sensitive findings”. But when leaked later, it did not cause any ripples even in West Bengal, Bihar and Assam, the three states most affected by the influx.

It now appears that since madrasas and mosques were coming up in increasing numbers along the border, the government felt the need to revisit the illegal migrants issue specifically to determine if a correlation exists between the influx and the increase in terrorist attacks in India. The new survey, using the 2001 census as the base, reveals a dramatic increase in Muslim population in every district bordering Bangladesh in these three states since then. West Bengal with 11 such districts was the worst affected.

The history of illegal migration from Bangladesh is worth recounting. When large numbers were spilling over into Assam in the Sixties and in the Seventies, the then Congress government, which had an overwhelming majority in the parliament, passed the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act. This, in essence, took away the onus of proving nationality from the migrant and transferred it to the citizen who had to lodge a complaint before a tribunal and pay a fee to engage its services. Moreover, whereas the rest of India had July 19, 1948, as the cut-off date for Indian citizenship of migrants, the date for Assam was March 25, 1971. Not surprisingly, even though the Supreme Court struck down the act in July 2005, people living in the border districts of Bangladesh have always felt that if they were to cross over to India, they would somehow be accommodated.

Fight for space

With a population density of 2,638 persons per square mile, many righteous Bangladeshis feel that they have a just cause for conquering their neighbours’ lebensraum, or ‘living space’. If migration, legal or otherwise, was the answer, so be it. Writing in the October 18 issue of the weekly, Holiday, 17 years ago, prominent journalist, Sadeq Khan argued that “by the first decade of the 21st century, Bangladesh will face a serious crisis of lebensraum. No possible performance of population planning, actual or hypothetical, significantly alters that prediction”.


He further argues that the “colonial devastation of Bengal in the 18th and 19th centuries left the region of Bangladesh bereft of traditional strength of technology and productivity”, and that a “natural overflow of population pressure is therefore very much on the cards and will not be restrainable by barbed wire or border patrol measures”. This explains why Bangladesh vehemently opposes fencing of the border and why it is reluctant to accept repatriated nationals. The motto clearly is that the greater the number of people leaving the country, the better it is for its larger interest.

The obvious reason why the state governments affected do not act effectively to deter the influx is that the greater the Muslim influx, the bigger the vote bank. Moreover, a crackdown would undoubtedly result in not only losing the migrant vote, but also that of the indigenous Muslim population. In the last elections, of the 294 seats in the West Bengal legislature, the Muslim vote proved to be crucial in 114 seats.

The Rajinder Sachar Committee observed that “the Muslim population is expected to rise — to a (replacement) level of around 320-340 million, which may reach 19 per cent of the population at that time, up from 13.4 per cent according to the 2001 census”. Clearly, the committee had not factored in the bit about infiltration.



http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080409/jsp/opinion/story_9110517.jsp#

Bangladeshi Illegal Migrants Pose Security Threat: Indian Parliamentary Panel

NEW DELHI: Days after India asked Bangladesh to keep tabs on illegal migrants as the influx has created a lot of problems on this side, a parliamentary panel has endorsed New Delhi's concern, saying that the "large presence of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants poses a grave threat to the internal security".

In its report submitted to Parliament on Wednesday, the Standing Committee on Home Affairs also took note of reports about the reach of such migrants who not only procured ration cards, driving licences and voter identity cards but also PAN cards to hide their nationality.

Though the panel did not go into details of the exact role of such immigrants in posing a security threat, it gave credence to Indian agencies' finding which indicted a number of Bangladeshis for their direct/indirect role in providing logistics to terror outfits like HuJI and Ulfa in the northeastern region as well as in states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The committee, headed by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, also took note of the large circulation of counterfeit currency along the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Similar concerns were earlier raised by BSF officials when they met their Bangladeshi counterparts during a conference on border coordination here last week.

Besides raising the issue of illegal immigrants, BSF officials also told their BDR counterparts about the presence of criminals who were indulging in the circulation of fake Indian currency notes through the porous border.

The parliamentary panel report also pointed out how the porous border was the main reason behind the "influx" of illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

About the measures taken by the government to prevent illegal immigration, the report said that the home ministry had taken various measures like construction of border fencing, flood-lighting and roads to enable more effective patrolling.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Bdesh_migrants_pose_security_threat_House_panel/articleshow/2962709.cms

Members of Parliament concerned over unabated Bangladesh Influx

Our Spl Correspondent

NEW DELHI

Allegations of links between a Minister in Assam and outlawed ULFA came back to haunt the Tarun Gogoi Government, with a MP belonging to UPA alliance, contending that an official Commission of Inquiry hailed ULFA for ensuring smooth Assembly election. The debate on Demands for Grants for Home Ministry turned murkier, with allegations mostly from MPs from Bihar, flying thick and fast. The MPs, cutting across the party line, castigated the Government for its failure to check the killing of Hindi-speaking settlers.

The other issue that dominated the over four-hour long deliberation was the illegal influx from Bangladesh and the rising threat to internal security from the illegal migrants.

The most startling allegation, however, came from RJD MP, DP Yadav, who quoted from a piece of paper to allege that the KN Saikia Commission said that the last Assembly election in the State could be held because of the cooperation by ULFA. He claimed that he was reading from a report of the Commission.

However, he did not clarify further. Kirip Chaliha, who was the lone MP present, watched in stunned silence. None of the State’s MPs in opposition camp including AGP and BJP were present at the House, as the Government bashing continued. Saikia Commission was appointed by the State Government to inquiry into the ‘secret killing’ in the State.

Yadav then went on to ask what steps were being taken by the Centre to tackle the situation in Assam, where unabated killing by ULFA and Black Widow Group continued. “Why has the Government not been able to stop the killing of the Hindi-speaking people,” he asked.

Picking up from where the RJD MP left off, Prabhunath Singh of JD (U) created a sensation by alleging that a Minister of Assam was protecting ULFA. “How can a Minister of the Government act as a protector of a militant outfit,” he wondered.

Seeking a response from the Union Home Minister, he asked, how could such a situation be allowed to continue. “I believe there is an IB report in this connection with the Home Minister,” he said, pleading that Patil should clarify.

Earlier, Swami Aditya Nath said there was no let up in killing of Hindi-speaking people in Assam. He charged that the Government failed to pressurise neighbouring Bangladesh to flush out ULFA out of the country, unlike the previous NDA regime, which had successfully pressurised Bhutan to throw out the militant outfit.

Joining the discussion, Kirip Chaliha conceding that there has been a spurt in terror incidents in Assam and Manipur, reminded that such killings were handiwork of insurgent groups and local people had nothing to do with it. On the contrary, militant outfits like ULFA are fasting loosing support at the ground level. Their secessionist feeling does not have any basis.

Describing terrorists activities as the greatest threat to democracy, Chaliha said that the terrorism have become big business. Terrorism gives them name, fame and money. He was also against giving any concession to the insurgents. The concessions given to the terrorists should not become the breeding ground for terrorism,” he said.

Lauding the initiative of the Union Home Minister in tackling the internal security situation, Chaliha pointed towards recurring incidents on the Indo-Bangladesh border. The Bangladesh Rifles is opposing the construction of fences. Completion of the border fences must be accorded top priority because fencing alone would prevent infiltration from that country, he opined.

Meanwhile, continued influx from Bangladesh rocked the House, with members cautioning the Government of its implications. Bangladesh has admitted in 2001 that 2 crore of its population has vanished. Then there is a report by Assam Governor that 5000-6000 Bangladeshi enter the country daily, said Yogi Adityanath.

Illegal Bangladesh migrants have become internal security threat. However, the stand of the Home Ministry is unfortunate, he added.

Joining issue, Ramjilal Suman said that infiltration from Bangladesh has become a major problem. The problem has become critical because Bangladesh is not cooperating, he added.
Pointing towards the problems faced by farmers in border areas in Tripura, Mohammad Salim said lakhs of farmers have suffered because of the fences. He said the border trade should be strengthened. By keeping the borders closed, government is encouraging corruption among the security force. Smuggling is on the rise, while Government is loosing revenue, he added.

Raising alarm over the unabated smuggling, Anant Gete said that there are estimated 2 crore Bangladeshi in India out of which 40,000-50,000 are living in Mumbai alone.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=apr2208/at01

Manipur Islamist outfit seeking links with Lashkar-e-Toiba

By A Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI

Manipur-based Islamic militant outfit People’s United Liberation Front (PULF) has been trying to establish contacts with dreaded militant group Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT) and a few youths from Manipur even received training in the LeT camps in Pakistan, security sources said. Sources said that the PULF, formed in 1992 following a series of attacks on people belonging to Islamic community in Manipur and at the initial stages, the NSCN (I-M) also extended helping hand to the outfit. But in the later stages, the PULF managed to establish links with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheedin (HUM) and this fact came to light following a crack down launched against Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and HUM operatives in different parts of Assam in 1999, during which more than 40 persons were arrested.

The PULF has not been indulging in any major act of violence in recent times and the activities of the members of the group were mainly restricted to drugs smuggling and other criminal activities. The outfit also suffered severe setbacks in recent times following arrests of senior members of the outfit and even the chief of the PULF was recently arrested in Guwahati.

However, the security agencies are aware of attempts by the outfit to establish contacts with the LeT and some members of the outfit also visit Bangladesh frequently. But no detail of the contacts of PULF in Bangladesh is known to the security agencies. The attempts of the outfit to establish contacts with the LeT came to light after the arrest of one of the members of the outfit in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said that the PULF member from Manipur was arrested immediately after he returned to India after undergoing training in LeT bases in Pakistan and during questioning by the security agencies, he admitted that the PULF was trying to establish links with the LeT to strengthen the outfit. Sources also said that apart from the arrested member of the PULF, a few others from Manipur also joined the LeT and other Jammu and Kashmir based jehadi groups in recent years.

So far, the PULF does not have strong bases in Assam and it is believed that the outfit has only been maintaining contacts in areas like parts of Barak valley districts and Hojai area of Nagaon district. Though the PULF chief was arrested from a rented house in Guwahati, sources said that he was only hiding in the city to avoid arrest and was not planning to carry out any subversive activities.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=may0508/at04

Influx From Bangladesh - Taking Assam the Kashmir way ?

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee admitted recently that a large-scale influx from Bangladesh posed a threat to India, especially to Assam, Tripura and West Bengal. His statement offers nothing new, for the Centre has known this since a long time; it only shows that he has renounced his denial mode.

The large-scale influx of Bangladeshis into Assam has been continuing since pre-independence days. It gave rise to a historic movement, the Assam Agitation (sometimes called the Assam Movement) between 1979 and 1985 to force the government to identify and expel the illegal migrants. The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) came to power after the Assam Agitation riding on a popularity wave but failed to take steps to expel the Bangladeshis.

The problem has now reached epidemic proportions with the rise of Islamic fundamentalist groups in many parts of Assam, especially those parts dominated by the migrants. It has led to a demographic upheaval with an estimated 11 out of 27 districts in Assam becoming Muslim majority districts in contrast to only one Muslim majority district at the time of India's independence. This massive influx consists of Muslims of Bangladeshi origin.

On the other hand, Assamese Muslims share a common culture with the Assamese Hindus and have been very vocal against this influx. A few Bangladeshi Hindus have settled down in Assam post 1971 and have been accepted into the society on compassionate grounds.

The large-scale migration of illegal Bangladeshis has led to an acute unemployment problem with almost 20 lakh unemployed youths in Assam, many of whom have taken to the gun. Besides, it has had a disastrous effect on the environment with the denudation of forests and killing of wildlife.

The State and the Central government have been ignoring this problem out of concern for their vote-banks. Very few of the illegal migrants are caught and even fewer deported due to various loopholes in the law. Migrants, after entering India through Assam, have moved to various North-eastern states and other parts of the country, creating a security problem. Illegal migrants now have a decisive say in some 50 of the state's 126 assembly constituencies.

The indigenous people in the state are in danger of becoming a minority in their own land. The former governor of Assam, Lieutenant-General (retd.) S K Sinha, in a report had warned that, if the demographic invasion of Assam was not tackled on a priority basis, the survival of the Assamese people would be at stake and their employment opportunities would be reduced. Several Islamic fundamentalist outfits operate in Assam.

The presence of lakhs of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Assam has provided a fertile recruiting and breeding ground for these terror outfits. The growth of radical Islam in neighboring Bangladesh has also helped these outfits. In 2005, the Supreme Court had struck down the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act.

However, the amended Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Order 2006 contains the same provisions as the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, which makes the detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshis from Assam very difficult. The attitude of the Central government has also alienated the mainstream Assamese who feel that the Centre is paying little attention to an issue which concerns their survival, which has stoked their separatist tendencies.
Unlike many of the North-eastern states, Assam does not have an Inner-Line Permit System, which makes it easy for anyone to settle in Assam. The border fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam is proceeding at a tardy pace.

It does not need a soothsayer to predict what lies ahead for Assam and the Northeast if the jehadists succeed. Bangladesh has been providing sanctuary to many of the militant outfits in the Northeast and the Indian government seems to be helpless in this matter. Often the BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) have attacked the BSF (Border Security Force) outposts, as in 2001 at Pyrdiwah in Megalaya, where 16 BSF men were killed, many of them were brutally tortured to death.

The time is ripe for India to learn from its past mistakes and take urgent steps to tackle this threat. As they say, a stitch in time saves nine.

The writer is Research Scholar, JNU. Courtesy IPCS

Upakjyoti Borah

http://indiapost.com/article/perspective/2713/

Is North East in flames ?

— H N Das

The writer was Chief Secretary, Assam, during 1990-95

Insurgency in the North Eastern Region (NER) has created an atmosphere of concern and fear all over India. The Government of India (GOI) and the state governments in NER have resorted to both hard steps and soft measures to curb and ultimately control insurgency. Police, paramilitary and armed forces have been used to unleash strong action against the insurgent outfits all over NER. Quite a large number of insurgents have been killed, many more injured and others sent to jails. A novel system of surrender has been devised to lure many insurgents back to civilian life. In Assam this has been successful to a great extent. But some of the surrendered United Liberation Front of Asom (SULFA) elements have continued their extortion, gangsterism and other illegal activities through formation of syndicates and collaboration in secret killings.

The soft measures include huge amounts of funds sanctioned by GOI to the state governments of NER both under Plan and under non-Plan. Many suspect that major portions of these funds meant for the production and the social welfare sectors are not going to the poor people but are being siphoned off by the middle-men. Some amounts also go to the coffers of the insurgent outfits through devious means. Some jobs have been provided to the surrendered ultra cadres of different states in the armed and para-military forces. GOI is taking interest in improvement of the infrastructure of NER by upgrading and extending the road network, improving air connectivity and expanding railway coverage. The projects, schemes and programmes undertaken by the North East Council (NEC) and the Department of North East Region (DONER) are increasing in number. The fund allocation has also gone up.

These measures have been able to curb insurgency to some extent in all the states of NER. However, the hardcore of the ultra outfits have not been completely pacified. In Nagaland, sixty years of unrest has come to a temporary period of respite thanks to the present ceasefire agreement. But extortion has continued. In Assam talks with ULFA has broken down and sporadic instances of bomb and grenade attacks and extortion and kidnappings are continuing. Raids and encounters are resulting in deaths even of innocent civilians. But the intensity of insurgency is much lower mainly because ULFA has lost public support and economic growth has been significant.

It is true that in spite of the best efforts of the state governments to attract foreign and outside investments the success rate has not been substantial. The exodus of skilled and qualified manpower in search of jobs and investment opportunities in Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and other places has not abated. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. Continued insurgency is one of them. As already noted some terrorist activities are still going on. But the national media tend to exaggerate the incidents taking place in NER while playing down similar incidents in other states. The fear psychosis already created by the national media is such that people outside believe these news items.

A very hard and objective look is required at the present situation against the backdrop of the past events in order to describe the intensity of insurgency. In the seventees, eightees and ninetees of the last century there was insurgency everywhere – Nagaland, Mizo Hills (while it was part of Assam), Tripura, Manipur and Assam. In Assam ULFA was born in April 1979 and it was running almost a parallel government during the late eighties. That was the time when it would have been appropriate to describe the situation in NER as really grave.

Today the situation has changed. As already mentioned insurgency has abated in Tripura. In Assam and Manipur, sporadic incidents are taking place but their intensity has gone down. In Nagaland there is a ceasefire. In Mizoram there is complete peace. It would be difficult to agree that NER today is a “Frontier in Flames”.

However, that precisely is the name given to a new collection of essays by ten experts published by Viking, Penguin and edited by the eminent and internationally reputed security analyst Jaideep Saikia. At the end of the long prolegomena the editor concludes that “the flames that have engulfed the frontiers are not the results of a mere bush fire, but are flames of a fire that has the ability to set the nation’s existence ablaze.” This undoubtedly is a rather strong and ominous prediction. Such a prediction can be justified only in the context of what happened in the past and what can happen in the future. In the past insurgency had proliferated all over NER. Even though it might be dormant at the moment the factors which can make it erupt again are just below the surface. These factors have been analysed in the book by B.N.Mentschel for Manipur in his chapter on “Red Chebons and Crimson Wars”, by S.Bhowmik for Tripura in his chapter on “Taming the Twipra Tempest,” by D.Gogoi for Assam in his chapter on “Resurrection of a Sunset Dream” and by Namrata Goswami for Nagaland in her chapter on “Twilight over Guerrilla Zone”. Even the comparatively peaceful states have the potential for unrest and insurgency. Patricia Mukhim has written about Meghalaya in her chapter on “Turbulence in the Abode of Clouds” and Mamang Dai has written about Arunachal Pradesh in her chapter on “Living the Untold Myth.” Problems of infrastructure development have been dealt with by J.T. Thomas in his chapter on “Beyond the McMohan Line”, motivational mechanics of the ISI-DGFI by M.K.Dhar in his chapter on “Fulcrum of the Eastern Dark” and about the economics of NE militancy by this writer in his chapter on “Brigands of Fortune.” About illegal migration EN Rammohan’s chapter on “Lebensraum in the East” has given an excellent analysis.

This book is remarkable for the masterly analysis of the situation and for the plethora of information it has put together within its covers. It is also remarkable because the writers have fearlessly brought out the most dangerous future that awaits NER if GOI and civil society remain complacent and political parties continue to play vote bank politics, to the detriment of the country’s security concerns. This remarkable book should be able to open the eyes of our government and our civil society leaders to the dangers that lurk behind the temporary lull.

It is not intended to make a full review of this remarkable book. Nor is it intended to list out the problems and issues dealt with by the editor and the ten experts. The objective of this essay is to draw attention to the present situation in NER independently of the book. The book is alluded to for its masterly analysis of the events of the past and the portents for the future. And also because it has become imperative to heed the writings on the wall.

The ground situation shows that beside the matters referred to above there is considerable resentment among the indigenous people because of the continuous and relentless immigration of Bangladeshi Muslims that has already changed the demographic profiles of Assam and Tripura. In this context EN Rammohan’s chapter is revealing. He has clearly brought out the systematic abetment of Bangladeshi leaders, and even some Indian Muslim leaders, to the poor peasants of Bangladesh to migrate to Assam. He has emphasized that “the objective of the Muslim League to get Assam included in East Pakistan obviously continues to occupy the minds of the leaders of Bangladesh.”

What is more sinister is the fact that the main insurgent group- ULFA- has become a puppet in the hands of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI). Instead of making Assam free of Bangladeshis, the objective with which ULFA started in 1979, they are now trying to make Assam free of Biharis and other Indians so that Bangladeshis can be substituted in the jobs in NER which were hitherto performed by north Indians.

Another factor which needs attention is GOI’s pumping in more and more money into NER. This has happened in the same way as it had happened earlier in Jammu and Kashmir. What proportion of it has benefited the poor? What proportion of it has meant proliferation and enrichment of the corrupt middle class? Then there is the issue of passing on of huge funds to the insurgent outfits by devious means.

It is in this backdrop that the problem of China’s doggedly demanding Arunachal Pradesh as their own territory has to be viewed. Diplomatic channels have not been able to do much to ease the situation. If NER continues to reel under the three problems of insurgency, Bangladeshi infiltration and corruption, China will find it easy to take advantage of these “fault lines” in case they make another attempt at “nudging” India as they did in 1962. Such an event will further encourage Bangladeshi infiltration. This may also turn the presently innocuous looking “Mia Land” demand into a major platform. Needless to say that ‘Mia Land’ is Muslim Land in Assam’s Muslim majority districts. These are problems which might change the situation in NER. That is why the dangerous portents are potent.

http://www.assamtribune.com/apr2708/edit2.html