GUWAHATI, Nov 12 ? At a time when a war of words is going on between Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and the All Assam Students? Union (AASU) on the issue of infiltration of foreigners into Assam, it is pertinent to note what the Law Commission of India had to say about the problem in its 175th report, submitted in 2000 as it pointed out the grave threat posed to the country by illegal immigration.
The Law Commission, in its report said, ? the entry of illegal migrants and other undesirable aliens into India posed a grave threat not only to our democracy but to the security of India, especially in the eastern part and Jammu and Kashmir.? The report said that the problem of illegal migration assumed gigantic proportion. This has aggravated the employment situation and distorted the electoral rolls in some states.
The undesirable activities of the foreigners include smuggling of narcotics, spreading of terrorism and other activities. The Commission was of the view that foolproof administrative measures like border fencing, modernised electronic surveillance system, effective legislation to deal with the menace etc must be devised to deal with the problem.
The Law Commission report gave a detailed history of migration of people to India from the pre-Independence days and pointed out that the partition of the country resulted in the largest ever migratory movement in the world history. The report pointed out that even after the partition and creation of Bangladesh in 1971, the migration of people into India continued unabated, causing a serious threat to India.
Though there is no realistic estimate of the number of illegal migrants staying in India, according to a report of the Union Home Ministry, the total number of illegal migrants staying in India is estimated to the tune of 15 to 18 million, the report said.
The Law Commission also pointed out the main reasons of such infiltration into India and said that two main causes were economic and religious. The report pointed out that steep increase of population in the other side of the border, low rate of economic growth, sharp deterioration of land-man ratio etc are the economic reasons for infiltration.
The report further said that the porous and easily negotiable border make it easy for the migrants to enter India, while, availability of cheap labour from across the border also encourages the phenomenon. The absence of a proper mechanism to identify the foreign nationals aggravated the problem and the available legal framework has failed to curb illegal migration, while, rampant corruption in the rank and fine of the enforcement agencies also created a problem, the report added.
The Commission was of the view that the clandestine cross border trade between India and Bangladesh also encouraged illegal migration and according to an estimate, the clandestine trade is three times more than the official trade. S
uch illegal trade has created a network of agents and middlemen working in connivance of the authorities on both sides of the border and because of ethnic similarities of people from both sides of the border, the migrants can easily mingle with the local population, making it difficult to identify them. There is evidence of illegal migrants acquiring ration cards, obtained jobs and got themselves enrolled in the voters lists with the help of local touts, unscrupulous officials and politicians, the report added.
The report further said that the locals of the bordering states are on constant fear of losing their identity and being reduced to minorities in their own states. The Law Commission report, like other such reports on the issue, pointed out the grave threat posed to the security of the nation by infiltration of foreigners into India but unfortunately, the Government of India has not been able to deal with the problem effectively.
Though the issue was discussed with the Government of Bangladesh on several occasions,the Government of the neighbouring country always refuse to accept the fact and under the circumstances, the Central Government must take effective steps on its own without waiting for assistance from its counterparts. The detection and deportation of foreigners from the country may be a difficult process, but effective steps could have been taken to prevent fresh infiltration.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi recently demanded installation of electric fencing along the border to prevent fresh influx but that demand should have been raised long back. Moreover, the sincerity of the Central Government is also questioned by various quarters as the decision to install the border fencing was taken way back in 1985 and the work is yet to be completed and the quality of the fencing left much to be desired as the same is broken in many places, making it easy for anyone to sneak into the country.