Illegal Immigrants and Terrorism

Nov, 2008

AssamAnother Kashmir In The Making?

Nov, 2008

Historical Perspective The British developed the tea industry in Assam The Assamese people living mostly in Upper Assam and

cultivating one crop per year, were not interested in working as labour in the tea gardens nor in increasing or expanding land cultivation to meet the additional requirement of food for the

large labour population employed in the tea gardens. British encouraged Bengali Muslim peasants from present

Bangladesh to move into Lower Assam for putting virgin land under cultivation This trend has continued

Advancement towards democracy During Mohammad Sadulla's Muslim League Ministry, a

concerted effort was made to encourage the migration of

Bengali Muslims into Assam for political reasons

The Viceroy, Lord Wavell wrote in the Viceroy's Journal, "The chief political problem is the desire of the Muslim Ministers to increase this immigration into the uncultivated Government lands under the slogan of Grow More Food but what they are really after, is Grow More Muslims."

Demand for Partition Demand for Bang-e-Islam comprising Bengal and Assam, in the East for

Pakistan Jinnah confidently declared at Guwahati that Assam was in his pocket. Both the Congress High Command and the Muslim League accepted the

grouping Gopinath Borodoloi vehemently opposed it. He was supported by Mahatma

Gandhi. The grouping plan was foiled and Assam was saved from becoming a part of Pakistan

Movement of population from East Pakistan continued Initially, mostly Hindu refugees fleeing from religious persecution Movement of Hindu refugees to Assam stopped because of insurgency and anti-

Bengali riots Bangladeshi Hindu refugee movement has continued to Tripura and West Bengal Illegal migrants from Bangladesh into Assam are now exclusively Muslim

Present Status Political parties encouraging illegal immigration to build up

Muslim vote banks Corruption: forged citizenship certificates given Bangladesh is not interested in stopping the migration

because it eases its problems No census has been carried out to determine the

number of these illegal migrants. Precise and authentic figures are not available but on the

basis of estimates, extrapolations and various indicators, their number runs into millions.

Illegal Bangladeshi Immigrants Incorrectly mention birth place as Assam Their victims : the natives of Assam Occupy Assamese land leading to insurgency

Student movement primarily started because of them Altering the demography to a large scale

Congress politicians putting national security in danger in the name of secularism

Politicians at their best On 10 April, 1992, Shri Hiteshwar Saikia, the then Chief Minister of Assam stated that there

were 3 million Bangladeshi illegal migrants in Assam but two days later, he committed a volt

face and declared that there were no illegal migrants in Assam

"As Additional S.P. in 1968 in Nowgaon, I did not see a single Bangladeshi village in Jagi Road or in Kaziranga. In 1982, when I was posted as DIGP, Northern Range, Tezpur, five new Bangladeshis Muslim villages had come up near Jagi Road and hundreds of families had built up their huts encroaching into the land of the Kaziranga Game Sanctuary" – E.N Rammohan, DG BSF, IPS Officer of Assam Cadre

Any honest young IAS who tried to evict them found himself transferred

Voting rights given to encroachers by government before 1983 elections This led to violent clashes between Assamese and the encroachers

Recently, there have been active demands for voting rights for illegal immigrants in the name of secularism from politicians (mainly Congress)

A comparison

In Assam Muslim growth rate was much higher than the All India rate. This suggests continued large scale Muslim illegal migration into Assam.

Dimensions of the problem Bangladesh census records showed reduction of

39 lakh Hindus between 1971 and 1981 31 lakh Hindus between 1981 and 1989

They are believed to be in India 5.17 lakh Bangladeshi Bihari Muslim refugees thought to be in India In 1970, total population of East Pakistan: 7.5 crores. This came down

to 7.14 crores in 1974 With an annual population growth rate of 3.1%, the population

should have been 7.7 crores Shortfall of 6 million people can be explained only by migration

ULFA – United Liberation Front of Assam Militant group in Assam Aim : Independent Assam ISI and Bangladesh’s Intelligence agency DGFI support ULFA’s operations ULFA has set up income generating projects in Bangladesh : soft drink manufacturing

units, hotels Paresh Barua, the head of militant wing of ULFA owns or has interests in Bangladesh

based businesses Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam and Muslim United Liberation of Assam are

chief arm suppliers for ULFA ULFA has been receiving arms training from ISI Contacts with Chinese Army, in 1995 a Chinese ship supplied them with weapons Hindi speaking people are killed in Assam by terrorists

NDFB - National Democratic Front of Bodoland

Aim : Sovereign Bodoland in areas north of Brahmaputra A largely Christian group Currently, the Bodo language is written in Devnagri script; NDFB,

whose members are mostly Christians prefer to use the Roman script Also active in Garo hills of Meghalaya Have access to sophisticated arms and ammunitions Camps in Myanmar and Bangladesh Collaborates with ULFA Attack Hindu Assamese and other Indian communities

ULFA-NDFB and HUJI thought to be behind Oct 2008 blast in AssamThere are many small terrorist organizations also in Assam

Consequences for Assamese It threatens to reduce the Assamese people to a minority

in their own State Cultural survival will be in jeopardy Political control will be weakened Employment opportunities will be undermined Prime reason of movement by Assam students Communal and political overtones as the illegal

immigrants are mostly Muslims

The Guahati High Court observed that an infiltrator with a Pakistani passport

had contested the Assam Assembly polls in 1996

Consequences for Assamese The clashes have reignited a long-simmering conflict as local

Assam tribes, mainly Hindu but with some Christians, fear being overrun by Muslim immigrants

More than 40 per cent of Assam is now Muslim, mainly immigrant settlers

Tribal groups blame New Delhi for neglecting their welfare, ignoring development of the region and flooding the area with outsiders

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Assam_toll_reaches_47_as_clashes_continue/articleshow/3568918.cms

All Assam Students Union or AASU Students' organization Politically very active Best known for leading the six-year Assam Movement against

illegal immigrants from Bangladesh Political wing : Asom Gana Parishad Wants complete implementation of Assam Accord including Border

fencing, which was only 85% complete in 2007

Wants to overthrow the Congress which it accuses of lacking will to deport illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. State Congress wants to protect its illegal immigrant vote bank.

Stand of political parties Manmohan Singh that he would speak to Bangladesh

But before speaking to Bangladesh, will he speak to his party’s politicians?

BJP supports AASU NDA and AASU forming an alliance against the Congress for

the coming elections

Only a regional problem? Threat to national security Pakistan's ISI has been active in Bangladesh supporting militant

movements in Assam. Reports of some 50 Assamese Muslim youth having gone for training

to Afghanistan and Kashmir Video – Pakistani Flag hoisted in Assam

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqg1wMsxYxo&feature=related

Again a silent and invidious invasion of an Indian state

MIGHT LEAD TO SECESSION DEMANDS

FROM THE ILLEGAL MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS AND

MERGER WITH BANGLADESH

Will we be caught unaware yet again?

“We saw it as sporadic violence. We failed to understand the game plan," says Inspector General of Police K. Rajendra Kumar in Srinagar. "When India reacted, it was too late."

This statement was given by the IG after Kashmiri Pandits were selectively massacred and forced to leave the valley

“Third, the prophecy that except in Sibsagar District, the Assamese people will not find themselves at home in Assam, is well on its way to becoming true as reflected by the present demographic pattern of Assam” - Governor of Assam in Nov, 1998

Problems in detection and deportation Porous and treacherous border

Ethnic, religious and linguistic commonality prevent detection

The Assamese Muslims have developed social relations and marriage alliances with the Bangladeshis who live alongside them in Muslim localities. Together they attack Assamese tribals (Bodos)

Political parties that are interested in getting their votes raise the danger of Indian Muslims being harassed

Problems in detection and deportation Prime Minister, Sheikh Haseena, a known friend of India, issued a

statement that no Bangladeshi was illegally living in India

The IMDT Act shifts the burden of proof on the complainant or the Police, to establish that the person complained against is a foreigner. Highly complex procedures have to be followed that take lot of time. (In the rest of India the burden of proof is on the person applying for citizenship)

Lack of funds

By 1998, 9599 illegal migrants were identified. Out of these only 1454 could be deported. These statistics amply establish the futility of continuing with the IMDT Act in its present form.

Our Questions What is protection of secularism? Does it extend to illegal

immigrants who have been given forged citizenship certificates and right to vote by petty politicians?

Who can stop vote bank politics that become such a grave threat to national security?

What we can do Conduct rallies against political parties that oppose deportation of illegal

immigrants and want voting rights for them Report illegal Bangladeshi, Nepali and Pakistani immigrants to Swabhimaan

Ensure your safety and do this quietly Boycott illegal Bangladeshi immigrants – do not give them jobs and do not do

business with them (Hindus can be spared as they face persecution and oppression in Bangladesh)

Refrain from mischief and vengeance against citizens of Bharat

GET ACTIVE LIKE AASU AND SUPPORT IT http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=fSTSAVgkL0g&NR=1

For Queries or Membership of Swabhimaan

Please send a mail Swabhimaan2008@gmail.com

Swabhimaan of being a Hindu and a Bhartiya

References http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/documents/papers/illegal_migr

ation_in_assam.htm http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/293789/National/1/22/1 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1670410.stm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Assam_Students_Union http://www.assamtimes.org/Political/2339.html http://www.headlinesindia.com/burning-issues-news/bodo-movement/bodo-rebels-

involved-in-ethnic-cleansing-assam-govt-2406.html http://darrang.nic.in/Darrang_files/a%20note%20on%20tribes.htm