Illegal Immigrants in India is a major political topic and the Bangladesh Media seems to be closely observing Delhi’s moves. Is the Indian action a direct threat to illegal Bangladeshi Immigrants in India, especially Assam? Will India expulse nearly 40 Lac “illegal immigrants”, primarily from Bangladesh?
The media of Bangladesh is worried about the listing of legitimate and illegitimate citizens that the Indian state of Assam is working on. In the report published by Bangladeshi media in an editorial, deep concerns have been raised on the entire process.
Situation of Muslims in Assam similar to Rohingya’s in Myanmar: bangladesh media
In the recent decades, Illegal Immigrants in India have increased due to the soft and porous border between the two countries. Most of the people coming from across the border are living in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam. Critics say that the impact of mass migration from Bangladesh has affected the state’s demographics and literally made the native Assamese a minority in their own state.
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To understand the Illegal Immigrants in India, Assam had prepared a list of all the legitimate citizens in 1951. In 2015, the state’s Congress party-led government had started updating the same. But it got momentum in 2016 when Bharatiya Janata Party formed the government.
In recent times, the National Registrar Citizen (NRC) is in dispute. BJP had promised to end the problem of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in their election campaign. However, critics say that BJP’s problem is not with Illegal Migration in India but with Muslims.
Muslims constitute one-third of Assam’s population, which is considered very high in comparison to other states. Due to NRC (National Registrar Citizen), there is a dispute in India’s politics too. The West Bengal border meets Bangladesh and the border between the two territories has been stretched, but cultural similarity exists across borders.
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Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP government in Assam for forcing the Bengalis out of Assam. However, the allegations by Mamata Banerjee have been dismissed by Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh. He said that nobody will be forced to leave Assam.
On January 1, the first updated draft of the NRC came out. In this, 1.9 crore people have been declared as legitimate citizens and a total of 3.3 million people have applied to join this list. Investigation of the documents of the remaining applicants is still going on. Bangladeshi media has overviewed the whole process and two major issues have emerged in the coverage of this dispute.
Illegal Immigrants in India: ‘Injustice’ with Muslims
In the Bangladeshi media, it is being highlighted that Muslims in the Indian state have to face problems in passing the “Legitimate Citizen Test”. The media here has been saying that Muslims are getting tired of the campaign against illegal immigrants.
In the report, the state’s former citizen, Monwar Hussein, has written that he was asked to make a validation for Indian citizenship. He said, “When such a condition can be laid with them, then it can be easily judged as to what could happen to the illiterate minorities living in the state.”
The Bengali newspaper Daily Inquilab had sharply criticized it in its editorial in December 2017. The newspaper had written, “There is no doubt that the BJP is using NRC as a shield to expel Muslims from Assam, it shows only the anti-Muslim attitude of the BJP.”
This newspaper says that NRC is BJP’s initiative to remove the Muslims in the name of the problem of illegal migration in India. This newspaper compared it to the action taken on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
The newspaper has written in its editorial, “There is no point in saying that if the government announces the citizenship of Muslims in Assam then they will come on the road and they will not have any choice other than coming to Bangladesh. It is in the same way as Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar were oppressed and forced to come to Bangladesh. India is also moving on the path of Myanmar. “
Illegal Migrants in India: Why Go To Assam
A journalist from a leading newspaper, in his article, had shown deep concern for the Bengalis of Assam. Alamgir has written that Bengali Muslims of Assam are being targeted. He has written that removing Muslims from Assam in a wrong way can cause communal violence and distrust between India and Bangladesh.
The journalist stated, “The life of Bangladeshi citizens is better than the Indians and its full credit goes to the people of Bangladesh. There is no reason to go to India from Bangladesh. from India.” He is not the only one who is making such arguments.
Before the Assam elections in 2016, an editorial was published in Bangladesh’s English language newspaper, The Daily Star. It stated “It is now completely clear that the economy of Bangladesh is improving. The middle class is growing rapidly in the country. Now there is no need for Bangladeshi citizens to go to a less developed state like Assam. “
According to a report printed on January 13 in the Bengali Newspaper, Daily Summon, Bangladesh High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali in India had dismissed that Bangladeshis were illegally coming to India. In this report, Muazzem said, “Our national income is much better than Assam. There is no reason for Bangladeshi citizens to leave their country and go to Assam”.
