Author:
Publication: The Hindustan
Times
Date: June 13, 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.