Many self-confessed bangladeshis leaving border districts on their own
By Ashis Biswas
KOLKATA: Even before the Intensive review of the electoral rolls (SIR) has really started in West Bengal, the state is witnessing a phenomenon that would have been inconceivable earlier: scores of self-confessed Bangladeshis going back to their former homeland with bag and baggage, from North as well as South Bengal districts.
The reason: they fear major harassment, fines and jail sentences if Indian police and other authorities catch them without proper documentation about their identity/citizenship. As neither the state police nor Border Security authorities provide details relating to such a totally unanticipated mass movement of people, accurate estimates regarding the number of people actually moving out are not available.
However according to projections from official circles connected with the identification and subsequent deportation of illegal Bangladeshi settlers, over 9000 people should have left India during the last three/four months. As for West Bengal, where the number of illegal settlers is thought to be higher than in Assam, at least 1000 people , mostly in family groups, must have crossed over into Bangladesh already..
A typical crossing usually involves mixed groups of about 25/30 people approaching the nearest checkposts or more informal points of entry, around midday or earlier. There are women and children as well as a few old timers. Guards or policemen on both sides keep watch but allow them to cross the border unhindered.
A local TV team leader asks a middle-aged man where they come from. ”Dhaka district” he replies. There is no apparent anxiety among them as the man admits his failure to secure ‘official Indian documents,’ despite having lived in Midnapore and then in Odisha for a few years! The group he leads does not look particularly impoverished, most members carrying air travel bags bulging with goodies.
There is usually no answer to the all important question, how did he manage to move with his family into India illegally.
It is only from the confessions of people serving jail sentences that one hears of politically powerful agents and touts operating in both countries, the almighty syndicates of bent cops and crooked politicians whom none dare oppose…..
Both Delhi and Dhaka have shown commendable restraint over the sensitive issue of illegal Bangladeshi infiltration into different Indian states in recent years. But Bangladesh media as expected criticised the manner of procedure adopted in India during the recent ‘pushout’ of alien illegals.
Dhaka-based officials strongly assert that according to due process pursued in official bilateral dealings, representatives meet first to decide how the transfer of undocumented citizens from one country to the other would be carried out. Bangladesh, while allowing the ‘illegal settlers’ from India to enter its territory, would carry out its own strict checks on these people
There have been several instances of Dhaka authorities notifying Indians officially about the people pushed back, pointing out that some of them really were Muslim Bengalis settled in West Bengal. ‘Mostly, GOI authorities allow them to return to India, accepting the final Bangladeshi version about their identities.
Police and Border Guard authorities in Bangladesh reported that so far, they had sent back to India around 25% or well over 200 people, — i.e., Indian citizens who had been pushed out of India .
Further, they stressed that this was the usual procedure that both Governments had pursued, until two major developments effectively torpedoed the earlier conventions governing bilateral relations.
The first was the Aug 5, 2024 anti Awami League coup carried out by students and groups, forcing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to take political shelter in India. The unelected interim Government was headed by Dr Mohammad Yunus, who turned out to be openly hostile towards India.
The second development was the fresh aggressive campaign launched by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to detect and deport illegal Bangladeshi nationals settled in India. Different state governments were given monthly targets of how many settlers they had rounded up and detained. There were a few cases of Indian Bengali Muslims who got dispatched to Bangladesh by mistake, but most were taken back after protests and re-checking.
Such developments were bound to disturb the hitherto comfortable contours of a smooth bilateral relationship between the two countries.
As for the India’s anti illegal migrants drive in West Bengal and other states of India, most opposition parties including the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) protested angrily. Muslims who usually vote for these parties felt they could offer them some relief from the ruling BJP. Neither Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi, nor Home Minister Mr Amit Shah bothered to downplay their hardline approach especially towards the Muslims suspected of having come over from Bangladesh.
BJP sources feel that the latest developments relating to the drive against the illegal Bangladeshis living in West Bengal will help the party in the 2026 state elections.. There is little doubt that over the years, a consolidation among Hindu voters has begun, resulting in the party winning in Assam, Tripura and increasing its presence in Bengal. The BJP is making all efforts to keep the illegal immigrants issue alive in Bengal till the assembly polls.
The very fact that the BJP’s recent moves have succeeded in ensuring a return of illegal Bangladeshis without involving bloodshed even from West Bengal, is a major administrative achievement, the BJP sources say. But the ruling Trinamool Congress has been able to create a favourable condition for the party by continuously campaigning against the implementation of SIR before the polls. Whether the BJP will be able to make any impact on people defying the TMC campaign, that has to be seen. (IPA Service)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
