Infiltration from Bangladesh blamed on shutting down of textile industries
Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that the ongoing economic crisis and closing down of the once-thriving textile industries of Bangladesh was largely responsible for the infiltration of workers to Indian states.
He clarified that there was hardly any influx of Hindus even after the attacks against them in Bangladesh. Saying over 1,000 infiltrators have been pushed back, Mr Sarma told reporters that the government had not detected any Hindu infiltrator in the past five months.
On the low number of Bangladeshi Hindus entering India, he said: “I think the numbers are very low and whoever wanted to come would have come 40 years ago, but stayed due to affinity towards their land. I think we should not encourage them to come to India.”
Proposing action against textile industries who encouraged workers from Bangladesh to infiltrate, Mr Sarma said: “It has come to notice that some owners of textile industries are incentivising the migration of workers from Bangladesh, which is going through a bad phase since the political unrest in the country.”
Mr Sarma said he had taken up the matter with the Union home ministry and the governments of all the frontier states, including West Bengal and Tripura.
Mr Sarma said: “The economic collapse in Bangladesh, added with the shutting down of its textile sector, led to a significant rise in illegal infiltration into Indian territory. Recently, the Tripura chief minister reported the state has detained nearly 1,500 Bangladesh nationals. The Border Security Force (BSF) is doing its part, and here in Assam, we are seeing similar patterns. On average, we are apprehending 20-25 infiltrators daily. However, the real concern lies in the number of individuals who manage to slip through undetected.”
The chief minister also emphasised the need for heightened border vigilance, revealing that home minister Amit Shah has urged all border state leaders to strengthen the security measures. “During the NEC meeting, the home minister advised us to remain alert along the borders. We have taken his advice seriously and are working to tighten our security network,” he stated.
Mr Sarma said the government was witnessing results against jihadi threats along the border areas as a result of collaboration with the National Investigation Agency and the Intelligence Bureau. “We arrested 23 people and seized various weapons”, the chief minister said, assuring that the Assam police was aware of the threat posed by such elements across the border. “We are conducting operations in coordination with the NIA and the IB. We have even arrested people from West Bengal and Kerala,” he said.
