Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: January 30, 2003
An estimated 60,000 people have
entered India from Bangladesh after the last general elections in that
country in October 2001.
This was revealed by Asiatic Society
president Amalendu De, an expert on Bangladesh affairs, in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Talking to TNN on the occasion of the presentation of a research paper
on the problems of refugees at the institute, De said these Bangladeshis
had scattered in West Bengal and other states.
And, unlike the refugees who had
entered after the Partition, the Centre as well as the state government
were indifferent to the plight of the new entrants.
According to information from across
the border, there is real danger of 'Talibanisation of Islam' in Bangladesh.
And, it is feared that unless a secular leadership is developed there,
communal forces are likely to gain ground in neigbouring West Bengal, harping
on the plight of the minorities across the border. De called for a study
on property laws in the two countries.
Bangla refugees flooding state He
said there was nothing discriminatory in the property laws in India but
in Bangladesh properties of minorities could be taken away rather easily.
For example, if one brother of a family in Bangladesh left for India, his
property could be attached as enemy property.
Transfer of properties was the prime
reason why many people belonging to the minority community had left Bangladesh,
De said.
