Author: Malabika Bhattacharya
Publication: The Hindu
Date: February 16, 2003
URL: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2003/02/16/stories/2003021605000800.htm
Concerned at the heightening tension
in the districts along the border with Bangladesh, the West Bengal Government
has asked police to intensify vigil in these districts as they bore the
brunt of the infiltration.
The DIG (Headquarters), Narayan
Ghosh, said here today that detectives had been deployed to supplement
the efforts of the Border Security Force (BSF) in containing the unauthorised
entry of Bangladeshi nationals through the porous border. "We have put
our mobile task force on the highest alert in the border districts.
``All the detectives making up the
force have been asked to bring the districts under the microscope and pass
on all information pertaining to infiltration to the BSF.
``We have reasons to believe that
different Bangladeshi agencies may re-launch efforts to push people into
the West Bengal side."
Apparently, the Bhattacharjee Government
has decided to supplement the BSF's efforts after the failed attempts of
the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) to push Bangladeshi nationals into India came
to light following the stand off at Saatgachi, in Coochbehar along the
North Bengal border, over a group of gypsies.
In one such instance on Thursday,
the BDR tried to push in about 200 persons at Hilli in north Bengal.
The attempt failed as the BSF personnel
at the Gosainpur outpost pushed the group back. According to reports, the
BDR tried to resist the BSF action but relented after evidence was presented
to it at a flag meeting.
"After this incident we cannot leave
anything to chance in our backyard," Mr. Ghosh said.
On Friday, BSF men opened fire at
Notaphala village along the border in north Bengal while chasing a group
of Bangladeshi cattle smugglers. One Bagladeshi national, Motaleb Ali,
a resident of Shilkhuri village, was apprehended, while the other members
of the group succeeded in escaping with the cattle.
According to reports, many Bangladeshi
villagers tried to cross the Kaljani river to save the smugglers but were
stopped by the BSF before they could enter the no-man's land.
The infiltration and the rising
temperature in the border figured prominently over the past two days in
meetings the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, and the External Affairs
Minister, Jaswant Singh, had in Delhi with the Bangladesh Foreign Minister,
Morshed Khan.
The bulk of the inputs for the papers
Mr. Advani presented to the Bangladesh Minister had been provided by the
Bhattacharjee Government over the past several months.
Joining Mr. Bhattacharjee was Tripura's
Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar, whose Government too is faced with the problems
of infiltration from Bagladesh and cross-border terrorism.
Significantly, the CPI(M)-led Governments
in two important north-eastern States, eschewing their ideological differences
with the BJP-led NDA at the Centre , have come forward to lend force to
the national campaign against infiltration and cross-border terrorism.
"We are determined to check infiltration
and rid the country of illegal settlers," Mr. Bhattacharjee has told the
Centre as well as representatives of different foreign missions who met
him over the past several months.
Mr. Bhattacharjee's concern is not
difficult to comprehend. For, his Government and the police agencies have
gathered irrefutable evidence that Pakistan's ISI was taking advantage
of the infiltration to send in agents.
Police have busted several gangs
run by Bangladeshi crimelords based in Kolkata and elsewhere in Bengal.
Many of these criminals, flush with funds and contacts, have relocated
themselves in Bengal to escape action in their homeland.
Besides, the infiltration is rapidly
changing the demographic profile in many parts of the State, often changing
the political configurations to the disadvantage of the ruling Communists.
