POLITICAL DIARY

New Delhi, 11 October 2008

The Political Terrorist

WHAT’S ILLEGAL ABOUT MIGRANTS?

By Poonam I Kaushish

After spending ten glorious days in London, Mera Bharat Mahan is a let-down. No I am not being cynical or a party pooper but the political comparison is a downer. In the ever-rising inferno of a global financial melt down, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has brought controversial arch-enemy and two-time discredited MP Peter Mandelson back as Business Secretary in his Cabinet to steer his country from fiscal disaster. In the US, even as Democrat Barrack Obama and Republican John McCain slug it out for the Presidential crown both came together to support the financial bail-out package. The country, indeed, came first.

Contrast this with the behaviour of our netagan. The Congress-led UPA Government continues to revel in self-promotion, self-aggrandizement and self-ish vote-bank politics. We are made to understand that the killing of Indian Mujahideen terrorists in Delhi by a police brave heart might be a ‘fake encounter’ and a judicial commission is likely to be set-up. And to ensure that the Muslims don’t take this amiss the pseudo-secular polity now wants the Hindutva Bajrang Dal banned too. But the voices are muted as one can’t afford to alienate the majority community either. Their bottom line: Politics is all about I, me and myself.

That is scary. When vote-bank politics dictate our leaders’ political ideology and their attitude and stance on everything is weighed on the voters’ scale there is no hope in hell for the aam aadmi. Specially at a time when the country is readying for the General and six State Assemblies’ elections. Amidst false bravado of eradicating terror, the scourge of poverty, spiraling inflation and laying foundation stones and wooing the minorities lie buried the harsh reality of India spinning out of control.

The tragedy of asli Bharat is that it is in the vicious grip of the Political Terrorist. Borne out by the diabolical machinations of our polity in the distant North-East last week. Wherein the demographic invasion from Bangladeshis in picturesque but volatile Assam is dismissed as the handiwork of underground militant groups. Brushing under the carpet the brutal truth that the State is once again ignited by ethnic cleansing of non-tribals (read illegal migrants), reminiscent of the Nellie massacre of 1994. Most affected were Darrang, Udalgauri and Baska districts where indigenous Bodo tribals clashed with illegal Bangladeshis. The immediate trigger being a recent observation by the Gauwhati High Court that “Bangladeshis have become kingmakers in the State.”

Clearly, the illegal migration from Bangladesh is a time bomb that will explode sooner or later. The 4,096-km-long and porous India-Bangladesh border makes for easy crossing and has significantly altered the region’s demographic complexion, particularly in the border districts of Assam, the six Northeastern sisters and West Bengal with important political implications.

In Assam illegal migrants have affected State politics in a major way, having acquired a critical say in an estimated 50 of the State’s 126 Assembly constituencies. At the same time, the steady growth of radical and militant extremists spewing Islamic jargon in Bangladesh since September 11, 2001, and Dhaka’s inability, or unwillingness, to tackle the same has raised the stakes further for India.

As matters stand, eight of Assam’s 27 districts have a Muslim majority population and hold the key for 60 of its 126 Assembly constituencies. About 57 constituencies showed more than 20 per cent increase in the number of voters in three years, 1994-97. Over 85% of the total encroached forest land is with the Bangladeshis. According to intelligence reports, “In the 70 years between 1901 and 1971, Assam’s population increased from 3.29 million to 14.6 million – a 343.77 % increase” over a period when the population of India went up by only about 150 per cent!

This, despite the fact that the general fertility rate for Assam, 126.5 per cent was lower than the all-India rate of 137.3 per cent. Further, the Muslim growth rate in areas bordering Bangladesh was more than 60 per cent compared to the districts far away, where the growth rate varied between 30 and 50 per cent (1971-1991). Clearly, this unnatural growth is a byword for illegal migrants

In Nagaland, the population of Muslims, mostly illegal migrants from Bangladesh, has more than trebled in the past decade – the figure rising from 20,000 in 1991 to over 75,000 in 2001. Illegal migrants have settled in various Indian States, including West Bengal, Assam, Bihar (in the northeastern districts of Katihar, Sahebganj, Kishanganj and Purnia), Tripura, UP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and even in Delhi. Undoubtedly, the influx of such a large number of people from Bangladesh into Assam is more than an “aggression” and has “created a fear psychosis, made life of the people wholly insecure and caused insurgency in alarming proportions,” said a senior Home Ministry official.

Where do we go from here?  Pander to rabid rabble rousers? Pander to the politics of vote banks? Allow the Push and Pull theory of illegality to continue. The Push back to poverty Vs the Pull of India’s rich pastures.  The option is narrow. The solution must be clearly dictated by India’s primary interest: its integrity and stability.

For starters, the Home Ministry should come out with a White Paper disclosing the harsh facts and spelling out the Centre’s plans to combat this grave threat to India’s freedom and integrity. More importantly, to protect the interests of the genuine citizen.

All bonafide Indians must be issued multi-purpose identity cards to establish their national identity well and truly. By way of birth certificate or lineage, mere ration cards should not do. Today, most Bangladeshis flaunt these to avoid deportation. If necessary, work permits could be issued to the Bangladeshis for, say, two years. With a firm rider: no voting rights and no permanent settlement. North Block also needs to look at its immigration laws and plug the loopholes urgently.

For the long-term, our politicians will have to cry a halt to vote-bank politics. True, this is easier said than done. Power and politicians are indivisible. However, in matters of national security there is no place for communal agendas or narrow sectarian politics.  In practical terms, strict policing and border management is needed. Fencing the border is not the answer as the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) immediately removes the barbed wire. Local people need to be recruited for policing. The fact is that if one cannot stop infiltrators at the border, then there is no way one can push them back.

In the final analysis, New Delhi needs to understand that the issue of illegal migrants from Bangladesh is no longer a humanitarian issue dictated by the theory of needs or economy driven. It is a grave demographic, economic and national security problem. Clearly, the time is far gone to pussy-foot the issue. The need of the hour is to understand the seriousness of the problem, deal assertively with the issues and set up time-bound measures once and for all. Talk of minority welfare is all very well. But, it cannot be at the cost of the genuine citizen or basic national interest.  ----INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)