Opposition
parties are once again looking for political opportunities in a situation,
which has the risk of blowing up because of their incendiary rhetoric. Every
attempt is being made to create a crisis where it does not exist. It is grossly
premature right now to speculate on the future of the people who are being
authoritatively identified as illegal immigrants. Religion, region and caste
have always affected politics but governance has to be above it.
A perfectly
legitimate exercise by the Assam government under an Assam accord has now led
to a deplorable and condemnable reaction from the opposition parties. The
Congress Party and its national president Rahul Gandhi must make his stand
clear on the issue of illegal immigrants from neighboring countries. Historically,
both Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Mr. Rajeev Gandhi had committed, that post 25th
March 1971 migrants would be detected, identified and deported. It was the Congress that had
agreed to the preparation of NRC but later did nothing in this matter because
these immigrants were mostly Muslims and it cultivated this group as its vote
bank.
For
its vote bank, Congress was encouraging illegal immigrants left, right and
center. It also tried to subvert Foreigners Act 1946 by bringing Illegal
Migrant Determination by Tribunal (IMDT) Act, 1983 which was stuck down by The Supreme
Court in 2005 in the case filed by the present
Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal vs UOI (2005), by stating that IMDT “has created the biggest hurdle and is the
main impediment or barrier in the identification and deportation of illegal
migrants”.
The
Conduct of Congress in the whole affair requires a closer scrutiny. The IMDT
Act had virtually made it impossible for the government to identify and deport
illegal immigrants. The constitutionality of this Act was challenged in the
Supreme Court of India, in the affidavit filed by the Assam Gana Parishad (AGP)
led Assam Government on 28th August 2000, stated that the State Government has been
persistently writing to the Central Government that the IMDT Act was operating
against national interest and therefore the Central Government should repeal
the IMDT Act. In May 2001, AGP was defeated in the Assam elections and the Congress
led government came to power. On 8th August, 2001, the Congress government of
Assam moved an application in the Supreme Court praying that the State of Assam
be permitted to withdraw the earlier affidavit and be allowed to file a new affidavit,
stating that ….the IMDT Act is
constitutional and there is no question of either repeal or striking down of
the Act."
At
the Centre, The Atal Bihari led NDA government filed its affidavit in the
matter on 18th July, 2000, in which has it stated that a proposal to
repeal the IMDT Act was under consideration of Government of India. However,
after the Congress led UPA government came to power at the Centre in 2004,
another affidavit was filed in the matter on 24th November, 2004
wherein it was said that though in the earlier affidavit a prayer was made to
examine the constitutional validity of the IMDT Act, but on reconsideration the
Central Government had taken a decision to retain the IMDT Act in present form
in its application to the State of Assam. Ultimately Hon’ble Supreme Court
stuck down IMDT act in 2005. The Court further observed: “The
dangerous consequences of large scale illegal migration from Bangladesh, both
for the people of Assam and more for the Nation as a whole, need to be
emphatically stressed. No misconceived and mistaken notions of secularism
should be allowed to come in the way of doing so”.
It
would not be an exaggeration to say that at the root of every socio-politico
problem in the country lies the myopic politics of the Congress. The flip-flop
resulting from this myopic vision is evident on its stand on Triple Talaq,
Supreme Court judgment on maintenance to Shah Bano, illegal immigrants from
Bangladesh, Ram Temple at Ayodhya, plight of Kashmiri Pundits, Minorities
having the first right on the national resources, etc. Communalizing Indian
politics to the core.
Similarly,
Ms. Mamta Banerjee’s ambitions have also pole-vaulted in recent times; she sees
it as an opportunity to consolidate her Muslim vote-bank in West Bengal. She has
dishonestly compared this as a restriction on interstate movement of citizens
of India and is trying to make it a Hindu-Muslim issue. We hope she explains
her stand on the issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh. Earlier
on 4th August 2005, she had stated in the Lok Sabha: “The
infiltration in Bengal has become a disaster now. You can see the Bangladeshi
as well as the Indian names in the list. I have both the Bangladeshi and the
Indian voters list. This is a very serious matter. I would like to know when
would it be discussed in the House?”. The
silence and ambivalence of other political parties like the CPI, CPI (M), BSP,
SP, RJD also reeks of hypocrisy.
Under
governance parlays, how much does it matter if 70 percent of the people left
out from NRC are from the Muslim community? After all, the illegal immigrants,
who came in hordes into Assam, are not refugees. The movement under the banners
of AASU AAGSP had emerged because the unabated influx of illegal foreigners in
to Assam had raised substantive fears in the minds of the local people about
its adverse effects on their social, political, cultural and economic life. The
2011 Census of India shows Assamese-speakers have become a minority in their
home state. Between 1991 and 2001, their population had declined from 58
percent to 48 percent. In terms of religious communities, the Muslim population
of Assam had increased from 25 percent in 1951 to 34 percent in 2011.
All
political parties should express their stand on the issue of illegal immigrants
into India in no uncertain terms so that we all know where they stand on this
matter. Fear mongering and hyperventilation would not serve the interests of
the nation, as would keeping quiet on the issue.
Gopal Krishna Agrawal
National Spokesperson of BJP
gopal.agarwal@bjp.org
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