Dear Editor,
The demography of the Northeast India has seen a lot of change in the past few decades. And the change is rapid. We use to see labourers from Bihar when we were small. But now their place has been taken by the illegal immigrants of Bangladesh. There are pockets in the state where you will find them in plenty. Government is doing little to check the influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. There has been some deportation carried out by the government. People are coming in thousands but the government is deporting in tens and twenties. To deport those few also district authorities of Assam has to get clearance from the Union Home Ministry. The delay in deporting these people is giving them confidence to get back illegally again. Government says that it may deport 20 million illegal Bangladeshis residing in Assam. I wonder how many years it will take to deport such a large number. It was found that it was easy to acquire Indian citizenship by submitting fake documents like Ration card, driving license, election ID etc. The problem is so deep rooted that NRC will have to go through a lots of papers of the immigrants to unearth who are actual citizens.
According to the Data, the population of the two districts Mymensingh and Greater Comilla of Bangladesh is growing at the rate of 1.82 and 1.83 percent respectively. On the other hand, the growth rate of the population of neighbouring South Garo Hills of Meghalaya is 3.80 percent and Tripura is 3.3 percent. Anybody can figure out the difference. According to the Newspaper of Bangladesh The Morning Sun which published an article on August 4, 1991 around 1 crore people went missing. Where did they end up?
Obviously northeast.
One can imagine the effect it is doing to the economy and political as well.
The influence of these illegal immigrants in Assam politics is 32 percent. They have captured all the barren land and made their own by getting genuine papers through scrupulous means. Unfortunately, the fate of Assam is sealed until and unless the government and the people do not rise up now.
Imagine the fate of Arunachal once Chakmas and hajongs get land rights here. The aftermath will change the whole scenario of the state-demographically, economically and of course politically. Can you fancy the fate of MLAs who are representing their constituency where Chakmas and Hajongs are in large numbers? If they contest elections, our local populace will be deprived. Assam is fighting to get rid of the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. But it is too late for them. We still have a window. Government should fight for its people in true sense without blaming each other. This is not an issue to play politics. We had seen enough. Imbroglio of Chakma issue is the outcome of bad decisions made by the governments whether Congress or BJP. There is no win win situation here. State Government should see that Chakmas and Hajongs never get land rights here.
Yours,
Kenjom Angu