Bangladesh Assam border needs monitoring

Author: Editorial
Publication: The Statesman
Date: November 6, 2002

Illegal immigration into Assam is unlikely to abate unless both India and Bangladesh agree to do something about the situation. When former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said there was not a single illegal Bangladeshi in India, neither Delhi nor the Asom Gana Parishad, nor the All Assam Students' Union, questioned it. The late Hiteswar Saikia told the assembly there were three million illegal migrants in Assam but corrected himself the next day saying there was not a single infiltrator. And yet he wanted the controversial Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act 1983 retained. Illegal influx was the BJP's main poll plank since 1991 but it did not pursue the matter seriously enough and now wants the Act scrapped. The Aasu, main signatory to the Assam Accord, 1985, and the AGP which came to power on the crest of the anti-foreigners wave, did precious little during its 10-year rule to detect aliens who crept in after the 25 March 1971 cut-off date.

Assam Governor Lt-General (Retd) SK Sinha took some interest and within months of taking over submitted a report to the President in November 1998 pointing out that the "continued silent demographic invasion" of the North-east "posed a great threat both to the identity of the Assamese people and to our national security". There was good reason for this assessment, it appeared to be based on facts not in dispute. Now he talks of the "reality" or rather the serious implications of detection, disfranchisement and deportation. His recommendations for completion of barbed wire fencing on a "war footing"' and non-diversion of Border Security Force personnel for other civilian duty are worth considering. But fences alone cannot prevent infiltration. The emphasis must be on strengthening border security, as in Jammu and Kashmir.
 

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