Gauhati HC verdict on illegal Bangladeshis triggered NE region

Guwahati, 30th July 2008

Following the Justice BK Sharma's recent judgments of the Gauhati High Court ordering deportation of 50-odd illegal Bangladeshi settlers have triggered a huge reactions among the concern society as the Bangladeshi influx issue troubling in the region from time to time. Today the North East Students Organisation (NESO) welcomed the verdict of the court and questioned the authority for its answer while the State Government putting tight lips on it since the verdict is out a two days back.

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According to the verdict of the Gauhati High Court (GHC), the illegal Bangladeshis have made use of copies of voters' list at random for indicating any name resembling theirs. "It is very easy to pick up any voters' list, find out names and particulars resembling theirs, obtain certified copies of the same and dump them to the writ court taking it for granted that the writ court will swallow the same, unmindful of requirement of Section 9 of the Foreigners' Act-1946," the court order stated.

The Northeastern students got the high response of condemning the Govt. failure in assuring the people of the region against the Bangladeshis when BK Sharma's judgment also focused on the failure of the administration with the saying that neither The Central nor the State Govt. has been keen to implement the IM (DT) Act which has been scrapped a few years back. NESO condemned, “The Govt. policies are made in the shallow political gains than the greater interest of the community as the State Govt. is still not implementing the triangular talk results in presence of the Prime Minister Singh. They are proved paralyzed by other powerful factor which made them delay their promise and let the Indo – Bangla border without fence.” The GHC also mentioned the same when it stated in its report that till now, the petitioners have been successful in avoiding the proceedings against them as well as their deportation from India. In the process, they have incorporated their names in the voters' lists on the basis of which they must have cast their votes. Thus the petitioners and such other large number of Bangladeshis present in the State of Assam have a major role in electing the representatives both to the Legislative Assembly and Parliament and consequently, in the decision-making process towards building the nation. They have become the kingmakers.

The NESO hold an urgent talk with the All Assam Students Union (AASU) today in this respect as the later is a winner in its historic Assam Movement against the illegal Bangladeshis in late 80s. NESO president Dr. Sammujjal Bhattacharjee said “The students of the region is always been concern over the illegal influx of this Bangladeshis and now we have legal rights to fight for the cause too. We will have a executive meetings with the concern authorities today and will take up the future agendas accordingly. We will try to pressurize the local Govt. to make immediate deportation of these illegal migrants and request them not to take it to the historic Assam Movement situations.” ‘The 95-page judgment and order passed Justice B.K Sharma directed the police to immediately take into custody 49 of the 61 petitioners, who were declared as 'foreigners' by the court, and to keep them in police custody till their deportation. The respective SPs have been asked to furnish report about the implementation of the direction. The State Home Department and the Director-General of Police been also ordered to furnish report on the action plan towards detection and deportation of foreign nationals from Assam. The State government was also directed to furnish report on the action plan and the time limit within which the names of illegal voters in various voters' list would be deleted. The court directed that all the reports be submitted on or before September 30’, informed Bhattacharjee.

With the mentioning of Mohd Kamaluddin, who held a Bangladeshi passport even while he was contesting the election in 1996, NESO said that Judiciary system has always been proving these incidents from time to time but the reason of State Governments negligence is a mystery. NESO today, add chorus to the court’s warning that if the phenomenon continues, "the day is not far off, when the indigenous people of Assam, both Hindus and Muslims and other religious groups will be reduced to minorities in their own land and the Bangladeshis who are freely and merrily moving around the fertile land of Assam, will intrude upon the corridors of power."

The students put blame on all the political parties of the state and the central Governments for creating the region a part of the greater Bangladesh.