Author:
Publication: The Hindustan
Times
Date: June 14, 2000
DHAKA'S INSISTENCE that
there are no Bangladeshis in India has been repudiated by Assam's
anti-alien police force. They cite the last Bangladesh census, which
recorded a drastic drop in its population, in their defence.
According to senior Assam
Police (Border) officials, the last official Bangladesh population
figure was two crore less than the previous one. During the corresponding
period, India recorded a 23.53 per cent jump in the number of Bangladeshis
living illegally in the country.
Assam, with an average
of over 55 per cent, had the bulk of these Bangladeshis, some districts
recording as high as 108 per cent.
"In a country like Bangladesh
where birth control is taboo, a drop in population is not possible
unless the people cross over into India, particularly Assam, Tripura
and West Bengal," the official said. "Dhaka has no intention of taking
back its people, so it is refusing to acknowledge the presence of
Bangladeshis in India."
Official records in Assam
say that "missing Bangladeshis" have been haunting Indian security
forces since 1952.
Most of these people,
detected and deported, reenter India via less rigidly guarded border
corridors in Tripura and West Bengal. The number of such missing
aliens has been put at around 71,000.
However, police officials
claim to have come up with a better plan to catch and deport these
people. They have decided to target construction workers across the
state, mostly Bangladeshis.
In order to verify the
citizenship of such labourers, roughly numbering around 1 million,
some 3,000 Prevention of Infiltration of Foreigners Personnel under
Assam Police (Border) have been pressed into service.