BSF detains 40 Bangladeshis last month in Tripura

NEWMAI NEWS AGARTALA, Jan 8 – Border Security Force (BSF) detained 40 Bangladeshi nationals in Tripura who had sneaked into the State in the month of December last. The force also apprehended 38 Indian nationals for crossing the international border while attempting to go to the neighbouring country in the same period.Tripura shares 857 kilometres of border with Bangladesh , which most part has got barbed fencing. The BSF also seized various smuggled goods worth RS. 39,47,666 from smugglers who tried to take them to Bangladesh from Tripura while Rs.4,75,704 worth of different Bangladeshi items have been confiscated by the same force last month which came through the areas of Kamalsagar, Ashabari, Kalsimura, Dhanpur, Kullubari and Srimantapur under West Tripura district and Sreenagar, Amlighat under South Tripura district. The contraband goods included ganja, forest produces, fertilizers, liquors, cattles and Phensidyle cough syrup, garments, electronic appliances and plastic-made objects. However, the porous border areas with Bangladesh are always a matter of serious concern as the Indian militants take shelter there. source: assam tribune

Hasina should act against NE ultras: PM

CORRESPONDENT SHILLONG, Jan 3 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said terrorists using Bangladesh to carry out attacks against India was a cause of worry and hoped Sheikh Hasinas new government would take appropriate measures in this regard. Singh who was here to inaugurate the 96th Indian Science Congress said that he hoped that the new government in Bangladesh would take appropriate measures and not allow terrorism to grow from its soil.Admitting that northeast based insurgents groups were sheltering in the neighboring country, the Prime Minister said that matter was brought to the notice of successive Bangladesh governments in the past without any much success.However, Indias hope was rekindled with Shiekh Hasina and her party, the Awami League and its allies wining a landslide victory in the general elections. Hasina has already said that Bangladesh was willing to cooperate with India to fight terrorism jointly. We hope that the new government in Bangladesh would ensure that its soil wont be allowed for acts of terror against India, especially the northeast, Singh said adding, India was committed to root out the growing menace of terrorism and Naxalism, despite initial setbacks.Ruling out talks with insurgent groups before they laid down arms, Singh asserted that the government would not compromise with those who have taken up guns to find solution. On the Mumbai terror attacks, Singh said war was no solution but reiterated that Pakistan must act against the perpetrators of the attack and hand over those involved behind the horrible terrorists to India.We have been pressing on Pakistan to hand over the terrorists responsible for the Mumbai attacks without success. We hope better sense will prevail on the Pakistani leadership and it will recognise that tackling terrorism is an area that needed mutual cooperation, Meanwhile, Singh also expressed concern over Bangladeshi infiltration into India and said the fencing work along the Indo-Bangla border needs to be expedited. The government is worried about infiltration and fencing work needs to expedited, Singh said. source: assam tribune

BJP’s work permit idea for B’deshis come under fire

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Guwahati, Dec 19: Political parties and student groups in Assam rejected demands by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for issuing work permits to Bangladeshi migrants who entered the country after March 25, 1971 and providing refugee status to Hindu infiltrators.

“The idea of issuing work permits to Bangladeshi migrants is simply absurd and we are not going to tolerate any such move. It would amount to encouraging more illegal Bangladeshis to enter India,” said Dilip Patgiri, adviser of the influential Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP).

Senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh told the Rajya Sabha that Bangladeshi migrants post-1971 should be given work permits and citizenship without the right to vote.

“The BJP’s stand is bizarre and nobody in Asom is going to buy their argument. There would be a mass protest if such a proposal was considered,” said Uddhab Barman, a Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M) legislator in Asom.

The Central Government has already fixed March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi migrants as part of the historic Assam Accord signed in 1985 to end a violent six-year-old anti-foreigners uprising in the State.

“Our stand is that the Government should detect and deport all Bangladeshis who entered the state after the cut-off date. No work permits and no citizenship demands could be even tolerated,” said Samujjal Bhattacharya, adviser to the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the group that spearheaded the anti-foreigners movement.

The BJP’s stand on granting refugee status to Hindu Bangladeshi infiltrators has also come under fire.

“The question of Hindu or Muslim Bangladeshi migrants simply does not arise. Be it Muslim or Hindu, illegal foreigners must leave the state,” Patgiri said.

The issue of illegal migrants has for long been a sensitive matter with political parties often blamed for using Bangladeshis during elections to further the vote bank politics.

“The State’s demography is under threat and political parties must desist from trying to make political gains out of the Bangladeshis,” the AASU leader warned.

India shares a 4,095 kilometre border with Bangladesh, with more than half lying along the north-eastern States.

Over 40 per cent of the border remains unfenced with concrete pillars separating the two countries. (IANS)