Assam: BJP vows to curb illegal infiltration

The party has also promised to indentify and expel all illegal migrants staying in Assam, but promised to protect the Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and the Scheduled Caste people from Bangladesh, and also promised to complete the work on updating National Register of Citizens on war-footing, finish the work on barbed wire fencing along India-Bangladesh border, and increase deployment of Border Security Force personnel to four times.

“This will include clear policy directions and effective control at the ground level and complete all pending fencing work along the India-Bangladesh and India-Myanmar borders, stepping up border security,” states the party’s poll manifesto.

“The issue of illegal immigration is a major threat to the region, and is also a threat to the demography of the region, and if this goes on for long, the indigenous people of this region will completely be outnumbered by the illegal immigrants,” said Assam state president of the BJP Sarbananda Sonowal.

Welcoming this stand of the saffron party, Tapan Kumar Gogoi, general secretary of the All Assam Students Union (AASU), which has been battling the issue of illegal migrations for over 30 years, said that a strong political will is required to solve this burning problem, and said that if the party comes to power it shouldn’t go back on its promise.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi however ridiculed these promises of the BJP and said that the party leaders should remember those days when the BJP led NDA was in power.

“In their manifesto they talk about border fencing and updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), but did they take any such steps while they were in power,” questioned Gogoi, added that he had written several times to LK Advani, who was then the Union home minister and also the deputy prime minister, but the central government had not done anything for the state.

“I had written to Advani several times for increasing deployment of troops along the border, be he never did anything. Why are they talking so big now,” said the chief minister.

Meanwhile in another development, the Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha, which is an umbrella organization of different indigenous and tribal communities, today alleged that the Central and State governments were conspiring to give citizenship to 60 to 70 lakh illegal migrants including Bangladeshis and Nepalis, who came to the State between 1951 and March 25, 1971.

In a release issued to the press, the Mahasangha said that the indigenous communities in the State must thwart this conspiracy or else they would lose all their rights in their own State.

“The Union home and foreign ministries are hiding the true facts about the number of foreigners in Assam. We had sought information about the foreigners under the Right to Information Act from both the ministries,” said the Mahasangha, adding that it would take to legal recourse in this connection and would first approach the Gauhati High Court during the current month.