Advocacy of infiltrators will be a costly affair

 

‘Borders of the country are to be drawn with the tip of the sword, not with the thread on the Charkha (spinning wheel)’, said Swatantrya Veer V. D Savarkar. This underlines the importance of taking a tough stand in the matter of national defense. At some point the people who ruled the country for 66 years i.e. from independence till the BJP-led government, should answer what they have done to stop the dangerous infiltration especially from the border of Bangladesh. Against this backdrop, the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi which is all set to introduce the ‘The Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025’ in the Parliament is a revolutionary step to stop infiltration.

Now, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also directed the police to take strict action against the networks that help illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas entering India. In Mumbai 350 Bangladeshi infiltrators have been arrested in the last two months. Such aggressive action is being taken for the first time against infiltration.

The recent arrest of the Bangladeshi national in Cuffe Parade revealed that he has been staying in India for the past 34 years. He had also cast his vote in the previous Lok Sabha elections by acquiring Aadhaar Card and Election Card based on forged documents. This is a living example of how infiltrators have been used over the years. This has been the case in many states for decades. People must know what kind of action has been taken on this issue by the Central and state governments which were in power till 2014.

Now, the opposition will start blabbering on this issue as usual. Because, the entire politics of opposition parties which are in power in some states depend on infiltration from Bangladesh. It will not be surprising to see them create a fuss in near future as their political existence depends on these infiltrators only. Even if they cannot publicly oppose the anti-infiltration policy, there is absolutely no doubt that the politics of protecting these infiltrators secretly will begin.

The issue of infiltration along the India-Bangladesh border is very serious in West Bengal. There have also been many incidents of clashes between border security forces and infiltrators. While this is the case, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is making outrageous statements like it is the Border Security Force that is infiltrating Bengal from different areas. The reality is that West Bengal is the first stop of infiltrators. Because millions of Bangladeshis have settled here over the years. Who is supporting all this? There are hundreds of villages in the border area, where not even a single Hindu can be found. Infiltrators are being heavily funded by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya and other Islamic countries.

Mamata Banerjee is still supporting them, even though hundreds of these people have criminal tendency. Because of her opposition to the checking of infiltrators, many infiltrators from Assam have taken refuge in West Bengal. In 2014, terrorists of Jamaat-e- Islami Bangladesh were killed in the house of a Rajya Sabha MP of Trinamool Congress and a large quantity of explosives was seized.

Even after all this Mamata Banerjee government was still not ready to share the information with the Centre. The case is going on against this MP. The issue of Bangladeshi infiltrators was first discussed in the Parliament in the year 2007. At that time, the then Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal stated in the Parliament that 1 crore, 20 lakh Bangladeshi citizens have infiltrated the country. Singh later retracted the statement regarding the figure of Bangladeshis. Former CBI director Joginder Singh had also made a statement that more than 5 crore Bangladeshis have infiltrated the country.

Infiltrators enter India on medical and tourist visas. Then they stay in India only instead of going back to their homeland. Agents help Bangladeshis to infiltrate. So far around 12 lakh Bangladeshis have disappeared after entering India. From 1971 to 2014, during these 43 years 48 thousand Bangladeshi infiltrators entered Assam. Even now, after the change of regime in Bangladesh, while Hindus are fighting against the atrocities, Muslims are fleeing and infiltrating into India, said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while replying to the question on infiltration. Some states are giving shelter to these infiltrators with an eye on the vote bank. Because of their policies, the balance of population has collapsed in many regions of the country. Instead of supporting the government regarding the decisions of national interest, the opposition parties are busy playing politics over it.

Actually, when such incidents happen with the bordering nations, then both rulers and opposition parties should pay attention to these developments. But that does not seem to be happening. In future, by exercising our right to vote, we should vote against pro-infiltrator parties and be vocal about the issue of infiltration. It is essential to force political parties to change their policies on a large scale by starting a campaign in the election.

Citizens who are concerned about the security of the country should recognize this danger in time. It should be announced that we will make Assam and adjoining states infiltrator-free. It should also be announced that we will not give a ticket to any infiltrator. Bangladeshi infiltrators are emerging as a major political force. They also have MLAs and MPs. It is everyone’s responsibility to help the government in finding illegal Bangladeshis to avoid the recurrence of this.

 

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 03 March, 2025) 

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson