Author: Narendra Kaushik
Publication: Mid-Day
Date: February 4, 2003
URL: http://www.mid-day.com/news/nation/2003/february/43719.htm
Introduction: Bangladeshi deportees
left stranded at the border
The war of words between India and
Bangladesh on the question of deportation of illegal Bangladeshis
from India threatens to turn into a major clash between the Border Security
Force (BSF) and Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR), as both countries refuse to budge
from their stands.
While the Atal Behari Vajpayee government
feels that the confessions of 213 Bangladeshis stranded at zero point at
Cooch Bihar district and their electricity bills are proof enough of their
Bangla nationality, Dhaka so far has refused to accept anything less than
passports, land records or receipt of municipal taxes as proofs of nationality.
The illegal immigrants, from Lal
Monihat near Komilla province in Bangladesh, have spent the past three
days living in the open with just some plastic sheets for shelter. The
group includes 80 children and 50 women.
Minister (Press) Anwarul Haque in
the Bangladeshi High Commission said a passport was ''suitable proof''
of a person's nationality, adding that documents related to land and municipal
taxes could also be considered. However, he said, electricity bills were
a ''poor proof'' of nationality.
However, India is emphasising on
the claims of the immigrants. ''They themselves are saying they're Bangladeshis
and waving the electricity bills,'' Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
spokesman Navtej Sarna said.
Asked whether India would force
Bangladesh to accept the stranded people, he said India was not forcing
them on Dhaka. ''The only problem is illegal immigration, and it should
stop.''
Yesterday, Bangladeshi high commissioner
was served an ad memoir in the MEA on the issue.
Meanwhile, the presence of 213 people
at the Indo-Bangla border at zero point appears to have made the situation
very volatile. Despite three rounds of talks between BSF and BDR officials
at the border, the issue has remained unresolved.
The BDR, led by Lieutenant Colonel
Ashfaqul Islam, has refused to accept the immigrants on the basis of electricity
bills, while the BSF has stepped up vigilance on its side to prevent their
entry into India.
The situation has become so volatile
that local police in West Bengal have sounded the state Home Department
about a possible evacuation of residents of some villages in Cooch Bihar.
