Author: Samudra Gupta Kashyap
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 1, 2008
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/343052.html
Introduction: A recent judgment by Gauhati
HC outlines the dangers posed by the increasing influx of Bangladeshi migrants
in Assam
Around thirty years ago, when the All Assam
Students' Union (AASU), led by its then president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta,
launched an agitation demanding detection and deportation of Bangladeshi infiltrators,
the then government as well as the people in the rest of the country thought
it was a non-issue being raised by a students' body.
Three decades later, more and more facts have
come to the fore proving that the influx of Bangladeshi infiltrators is worryingly
high, and also that these people, who pose a threat to the sovereignty and
integrity of the nation, are increasing their political clout in the country.
The latest such document at hand is a judgment
passed by Justice B K Sharma of the Gauhati High Court last week, which said
that Bangladeshi infiltrators have a "major role" in electing representatives
both to the Legislative Assembly and Parliament and, consequently, in the
decision-making process towards building the nation. "They have become
the kingmakers," Justice Sharma had remarked. Reacting to the judgment,
AASU said on Wednesday that a porous Indo-Bangla border had converted Assam
into a corridor for Islamic terrorists to enter mainland India.
The flow of people from the erstwhile East
Bengal (of the pre-Independence era) to Assam began in the early 20th century.
However, it was the Bangladesh War for Liberation that sparked off a massive
exodus of people from the then East Pakistan, with the Indian government failing
to ensure that they returned to their newborn country.
It was during the revision of the electoral
rolls in the Mangaldoi Lok Sabha constituency in 1979 (which was preparing
for a by-election) that the authorities detected a large number of people
of Bangladeshi /East Pakistani origin having enrolled themselves as voters
there.
The AASU, which was already preparing for
an agitation, took up the issue, resulting in a six-year-long popular movement
that culminated in signing of the Assam Accord on August 14, 1985.
But even after the Accord, nothing significant
happened as the Centre chose to retain the Illegal Migrants (Determination
by Tribunals) Act of 1983, which was always been seen as a piece of legislation
which protected infiltrators instead of weeding them out.
The Congress, which has always been accused
of protecting the migrants, has remained in denial mode as far as the influx
is concerned. But there have been times when leaders of the same party did
describe the flow of migrants as a big problem. Most significant was a statement
made by former chief minister Hiteswar Saikia, who, in August 1994, told the
Assembly that there were 30 lakh Bangladeshis in Assam. Saikia, however, retracted
his statement within a couple of days after the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind threatened
to pull down his government.
The most significant report in this regard
was sent by former governor of Assam Lt Gen S K Sinha (Retd) to the President
of India on November 8, 1998, giving a vivid account of the influx and also
pointing out that Bangladeshi migrants were emerging as a majority in districts
bordering Bangladesh and would sooner or later demand a merger of those districts
with the neighbouring country.
Former home minister Indrajit Gupta in 1998
stated in Parliament that there were over 1.08 crore Bangladeshi infiltrators
in the country, over 40 per cent of whom were living in Assam. Several Home
Ministry reports have also hinted at direct and indirect links between Bangladeshi
influx and jehadi activities in the country.
The most significant development, however,
was a Supreme Court verdict on July 12, 2005, which struck down the IMDT Act,
describing it as beyond the powers of the Constitution. The judgment came
on a petition filed by AGP MP Sarbananda Sonowal. Such was the reaction of
the pro-migrants lobby to the verdict that a new political party called Assam
United Democratic Front came into existence soon after.
Meanwhile, the number of Bangladeshi infiltrators
detected and deported from Assam has remained alarmingly low. Only two weeks
ago, Minister for Assam Accord Implementation, Bhumidhar Barman, told the
Assembly that though 8,431 Bangladeshis were detected since 2001 (when the
present Government assumed power), only 94 had been deported so far.
People of Bangladeshi origin, who have managed
to enroll themselves as voters in the state, on the other hand, have multiplied
at such a rate that today they are the deciding factor in at least 45 Assembly
constituencies and four Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam.
