Author: Sushanta Talukdar
Publication: The Hindu
Date: July 29, 2008
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/29/stories/2008072960591400.htm
"Political will to free the State from
illegal Bangladeshis, the need of the hour"
The Gauhati High Court has said that Bangladeshis
in Assam had become the kingmakers and "a strong political will to free
Assam from illegal Bangladeshi[s] is the need of the hour coupled with public
activism in that direction."
In his 95-page judgment and order passed on
Friday, Justice B.K Sharma directed the police to immediately take into custody
49 of the 61 petitioners, who were declared as 'foreigners' by the court,
and to keep them in police custody till their deportation. The respective
Superintendents of Police have been asked to furnish report about the implementation
of the direction.
The judgment and order was passed by the court
while disposing of a total of 23 petitions moved by 61 petitioners after they
had been declared as foreigners by the respective Foreigners' Tribunals. The
High Court upheld the tribunal judgments in most of the cases.
In voters' lists
"Till now, the petitioners have been
successful in avoiding the proceedings against them as well as their deportation
from India. In the process, they have incorporated their names in the voters'
lists on the basis of which they must have cast their votes. Thus the petitioners
and such other large number of Bangladeshis present in the State of Assam
have a major role in electing the representatives both to the Legislative
Assembly and Parliament and consequently, in the decision-making process towards
building the nation. They have become the kingmakers," the judgment stated.
The court has asked the State Home Department
and the Director-General of Police to furnish report on the action plan towards
detection and deportation of foreign nationals from Assam. The State government
was also directed to furnish report on the action plan and the time limit
within which the names of illegal voters in various voters' list would be
deleted. The court directed that all the reports be submitted on or before
September 30.
Justice Sharma observed: "It is no longer
a secret or in the domain of 'doubt' that illegal Bangladeshis have intruded
every nook and corner of Assam, including forest land. In some of the cases,
the petitioners themselves stated before the police during investigation that
they were living in government and forest land. If reports are to be believed,
they have even intruded upon the most sacred Xattra lands. Very often, they
are protected by extending the protective lands of 'secularism' branding them
to be Indian "minorities" in Assam. A strong political will to free
Assam from illegal Bangladeshi[s] is the need of the hour coupled with public
activism in that direction."
The court warned that if the phenomenon continues,
"the day is not far off, when the indigenous people of Assam, both Hindus
and Muslims and other religious groups will be reduced to minorities in their
own land and the Bangladeshis who are freely and merrily moving around the
fertile land of Assam, will intrude upon the corridors of power."
On the role of the Central and the State governments,
the judgment and order stated that the foremost duty of the Central government
was to defend the borders of the country, prevent any trespass and make the
life of the citizens safe and secure. The State government was also equally
responsible for taking effective measures to stop the unabated influx of Bangladeshi
nationals to Assam threatening the very existence of the indigenous people
in their own State. "Neither the Central government nor the State government
can disown such solemn responsibilities, they being the protectors of the
citizens."
