The topic relating to illegal immigration and cross-border infiltrations into West Bengal is backing on the talking table. With the crisis in Bangladesh worsening with each passing day, India risks a spike in infiltrations and illegal immigrations.
While Assam has upped its game and has begun cracking down on illegal immigrations, Bengal is yet to wake up and act seriously on the issue. Speaking at the inauguration of a new passenger terminal at the Petrapole land port along the India-Bangladesh border, Union Home Minister, Amit Shah said that illegal immigration will be curbed if the BJP is power in the state. He said that illegal migration from Bangladesh to India disrupts peace in the country. Lasting peace in Bengal can be achieved only when cross-border infiltration is stopped.
Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that 138 people trying to enter India from Bangladesh have been detected in the last two months in Assam and Tripura. Every day for the last two months, we have been capturing either one or a group in our state. He also said that states need to coordinate on the issue and while Assam and Tripura are doing so, Bengal needs to cooperate with the Border Security Force.
The Bengal problem
According to the 2001 census, it is the Bangladeshis that form the largest group, followed by Pakistanis. In 2005, the Supreme Court had noted that the impact of the aggression represented by large scale illegal migration from Bangladesh had made the life of the people of Assam, Tripura and other states in the northeast wholly insecure and the panic generated thereby had created a fear psychosis. The Delhi High Court in 2008 while rejecting a petition by a Bangladeshi national against her deportation said that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants pose a danger to the internal security of India.
In Bengal, it has been found that the illegal Bangladeshi migrant had entered into parts of rural Bengal, including Nandigram. They settled there as sharecroppers with the help of the local Left leaders.
If one looks at the proportion of the Muslim population in Bengal, then it has grown from 19.84 in 1951 to 27.01 in 2011. While there has been an argument that this is not due to illegal migrants coming into Bengal, one should have a closer look at the Community Development blocks along the India-Bangladesh border. There is a high decadal population growth in certain blocks such as in the Basharat subdivision in North 24 Paraganas district and the blocks with the riverine international border in Murshidabad. This is a cause for concern, but the successive state governments in the district have been in denial.
The decal growth rate of the population in Bengal between 2001 and 2011 was at 13.93 per cent.
The politics of appeasement
While the Centre has time and again flagged this issue, the governments that have ruled Bengal have turned a blind eye to the problem. It becomes clear that this is nothing but politics of appeasement in order to create a bigger vote bank of Muslims.
In this bargain to appease such persons, the state government has gone soft on cattle smuggling, counterfeiting and narcotics trade. In fact it even turned a complete blind when a bunch of illegal immigrants were housed in houses in Burdwan and were preparing over a 1,000 bombs.
Following Amit Shah’s statement, Trinamool Congress MP, Mahua Moitra was quick to comment. She said that blaming the state government is not right because the BSF which guards the border is under the Union Home Ministry. While there has been complicity along the border, the problem is that that the state government led by Moitra’s party refuses to acknowledge the problem. The state has not been coordinating with the neighbouring states and the Centre in helping to identify these persons so that they could be deported. Instead the government has allowed a large number of touts to operate in the bordering areas. Their job is to ensure that the infiltration takes place, following which these persons are accommodated and identity cards are given to them.
This complicity began under the Congress and Left governments in the state. However with Mamata Banerjee at the helm it is only gone from bad to worse. These illegal immigrants are a safe vote bank for her, considering that her base is slowly becoming smaller in the other parts of the state. This has led to her party members facilitating both the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and the Rohingyas. The fact that these persons have voter id cards and Aadhaar cards has helped Mamata Banerjee create a strong vote bank among them.
The numbers also tell the story of illegal immigrants in Bengal. The number of Bangladeshi nationals who overstayed beyond the period their visa validity after entering India illegally during 2017, 2018 and 2018 stood at 25,942,49,645 and 35,055 respectively. The number could be much higher and it is hard for the Home Ministry to get the exact details as many have entered clandestinely and in a surreptitious manner.
The illegal immigrants have been long protected to increase vote banks. Due to this, the law enforcement agencies are unable to correctly implement law and order.
The impact of illegal immigration:
The security agencies have time and again said that illegal migrants from Bangladesh pose the biggest danger to India’s national security. Bengal has been playing a very dangerous game on this. What is worse they have given these persons an identity and this helps them to travel across the country and settle in large numbers in other parts of India.
The Bengal government has not just been complicity in controlling or even reporting the problem, but it has also looked at the other way when they commit crimes. These elements have made Malda their headquarters to supply fake currency across India. They indulge in narcotic trade, cattle smuggling and with the money they make they have been threatening Hindus to sell their homes and land to them. A refusal to do so is not really an option for an average Hindu in Bengal as these elements go about their business with complete political backing.
Migrations towards a better economic region is nothing new and is seen in many parts of the world. However the migration from Bangladesh to India is different as these involve both religious and political factors.
Bengal is a densely populated state burg 1,029 persons per square kilometres. In such a densely populated state, the illegal immigrants cause immense stress on the land. Further the congestion in the urban and slum areas increases since the illegal immigrants are usually seen settling in urban pockets of the state.
In Bengal there are permanent, temporary and seasons illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. These persons indulge in smuggling, prostitution and trafficking of women and children which are regularly organised by the temporary migrants in the border districts. This has led to disturbances and in the bargain security has become a major.
The problem is already bad and if the government of Bengal refuses to work with the Centre and its state police do not cooperate with the Border Security the issue is going to get worse in the days to come.
