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Illegal Indians in Bangladesh
Mohammad Zainal Abedin , Bangladesh
Though Indian government and its print media
relentlessly try to prove that the Bangladeshis are
intruding into India daily, and Indian BSF (Border
Security Forces) personnel engage try to push the
Indian Bengali speaking Muslims to Bangladesh, the
reality is totally otherwise.
According to the available reports, lakhs of Indians
hailing from Indian states of West Bengal, Meghalaya,
Assame, Tripura, Mizoram are illegally staying in
Bangladesh—from urban to the rural areas. These
states are extremely poor and the Indians come to
Bangladesh in search of job and better living. Most
of these Indians enter Bangladesh without passport
or visa, take shelter in the houses of their
relatives.
In order to justify them as Bangladeshis they
collect certificates and other documents from the
respective authorities with the help of their
relatives or the agents in exchange of money. In
course of time they start to claim that they are
Bangladeshis. Some Hindus, those who do not have
relatives in the urban areas introduce themselves as
Muslims and provide fake permanent addresses to
justify them as Bangladeshis. Due to identical
language, physical appearance and structure, none
doubts that they are Indian Hindus. So they can
easily live in Bangladesh illegally.
In the urban areas these Indians outwardly work in
buying houses, garment factories,fashion
houses,freight and forwarding agencies, educational
institutions, computer training centers,restaurants,
advertising agencies, bars and hotels, beauty
parlours , guest houses, private firms and business
houses. Some of them work as car and taxi drivers
and even rickshaw pullers. I personally came across
more than one hundred rickshaw pullers in Dhaka City
over the last couple of months.
It is learnt that some of these Indian are the
agents and operatives of Indian intelligence
agency—RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) and they are
involved in carrying out subversive activities.They
are involved in money laundering,’hoondy’ and
smuggling creating devatating effects on the
economy.
Besides their outwardjobs, they might have been
planted in Bangladesh to carryout sabotage. It is
apprehended these RAW agents might be engaged to
create anarchic situation in the country before and
after the forthcoming general elections. Abrupt
increase of political killings in the country,
particularly robbery in Dhaka in recent days,
indicates presence of such people in Bangladesh.
Arrest of nine Indian from the venue of Prime
Minister’s scheduled meeting at Lakhsam proves the
huge presence of RAW agents and operatives in
Bangladesh.
It is difficult to ascertain the real figure of the
Indians in Bangladesh who are scattered in the rural
areas also. To justify the huge presence of the
Indians in Bangladesh and the problems that are
being surfaced let me quote a report of a
Dhaka—based daily. The Choddogram Correspondent of
the daily reported that about 1,100 hundred Indians
illegally reside in Choddogram, a Bangladeshi
Upazila that shares border with Indian state of
Tripura. Indians hailing from Tripura state
illegally live in all the 14 unions of the Upazila.
Tripura lags behind Bangladesh in every sector,
having no infrastructure, particularly in the border
areas. Indians daily labourers come to Bangladesh
illegally to have work, sell and buy commodities in
Bangladeshi bazars and meet their relatives living
in Bangladesh.
Due to massive intrusion of the Indians local people
of ‘Choddogram’ Upazill are becoming jobless, as the
Indians work in exchange of lower remuneration than
their Bangladeshi counterparts. Workers of almost 80
per cent saloons of Choddogram are Indians. These
saloon workers live in Bangladesh illegally. Many
Indians are working in tea-stalls, hotels,
groceries, clinics, garment factories, construction
and agriculture farms. Many of them work as tailors,
bus-conductors, cobblers, carpenters, masons,
rickshaw pullers, etc. These Indians reside in
Bangladesh enjoying the blessings of a number local
influential people.
These Indians are involved in various crimes and
anti-social activities. As the Indians do not have
any permanent address, they commit various types of
crimes, including murder, theft, robbery, rape and
just sneak into Indian soil. These Indians bring
narcotics like wine, ganja, opium, phensedyl, etc.
from India while they smuggle ornaments, diesel,
edible oil to India.
Most of these Indians are Hindus. Many of them
married local girls belonging to poor families and
live in Bangladesh. Some of them left their wives
along with three to four children. These children
deserted by their Indian fathers live subhuman lives
and involve them in anti-social activities to earn
their livelihood.
Choddogram is not the only Upazila, where illegal
Indians reside permanently. They are available in
almost all the villages of Bangladesh if there is at
least one Hindu family. There prevails strong public
opinion in Bangladesh in favour of arresting all the
Indians who illegally enter Bangladesh and live
here.
No Indian was ever killed by Bangladesh Rifles when
they intruded into Bangladesh. But a survey confirms
that 337 Bangladeshis were killed, 466 wounded, 491
kidnapped and 68 women raped during the last five
years. BSF detained 467 Bangladeshis while they were
either working in their fields or bathing or fishing
in the common rivers during the same period.
Bangladeshis cannot go to plough their lands near
the border with India. They even cannot fish or
bathe in the common rivers. Indians plunder their
houses, cattle, paddy fields, and other valuable
belongings. India pushes her Bengali speaking
Muslims branding them as Bangladeshis.
Under the situation, the government should
immediately detect and nab the illegal Indians to
avert disruptive activities in the country. It is
apprehended that most these Indians will be enrolled
in the voter’s list of the coming elections and they
may play a vital role to elect the party of Indian
choice. So these Indians should immediately be
detected and deported to India. Otherwise it will be
difficult to expel them in future.*
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Mohammad Zainal Abedin is a Bangladeshi researcher
and journalist.
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