The Bangladesh poser
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 04 2012 -
Though there may be nothing new about it as it has remained an open secret to all, nonetheless, the revelation that came out from the mouth of the visiting Bangladeshi MPs must have come like a bombshell to New Delhi or something close to it.
At a time when protest agitations and mass public movement are being witnessed across the entire Northeast region over the issue of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh, a visiting 12-member delegation of Bangladeshi MPs on Saturday blamed the Government of India for not taking up with Dhaka the issue of illegal migration from the neighbouring country to Assam and other parts of the Northeast region.
The Bangladeshi MPs who represent different political parties have also assured that Dhaka would never endorse illegal immigration. "We will never accept illegal migration.
In fact, the word itself is illegal", Toffail Ahmed of Awami League is quoted to have said in media while interacting with reporters on the sideline of their visit to Guwahati on Saturday.
Even though the assertion of the visiting Bangladeshi MPs could be brushed off as blatant denial of the problem that the North Eastern States and more particularly Assam have been facing from illegal infiltration from Bangladesh through the porous International border in search of better prospects all these years, the Government of India definitely has some serious answering to do here.
As a matter of fact, illegal migration from Bangladesh to the Northeast States remained unstoppable due to various reasons.
Apart from factors like historical links and geographical proximity, better employment opportunities and availability of fertile agricultural land in the Northeast act as a pull factor while the poverty, subsistence living, ravages caused by floods and other natural calamities in Bangladesh act as push factors.
In Assam alone, which is one of the worst affected States; the growth of population during the period from 1951 to 2001 was recorded at an alarming 234.4% against 184.4% for all India.
This high growth rate of population, which resulted from large scale influx of illegal Bangladeshis triggered All Assam Students' Union (AASU) to launch an intense movement against 'foreigners' during 1979-85.
Unfortunately, instead of solving the problem, the movement had only fuelled the ambition of some political wannabes, and the issue of illegal migration in Assam, which has subsequently spilled over to other neighbouring States including Manipur, continues to haunt the mind of the indigenous people in the Northeast region.
Thanks to Indian politicians who cannot look beyond their precious vote banks and always turn a Nelson's eye to the problem, unaccounted number of illegal migrants from Bangladesh has today not only led to a serious demographic upheaval but also ignited tensions and conflicts in several areas of Northeast.
And above all, made answerable to Dhaka for not taking up the issue in time.
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