Deportation row hots up; Maharashtra to move apex court

“Mumbai is not a dharamshala (charity institution) that we should house over one lakh illegal Bangladeshi immigrants here if need arise we may even approach the Supreme Court to continue with the deportations,” Munde told The Indian Express tonight. This runs against the city police commissioner’s statement that they were going slow on the deportation of Bangladeshi immigrants.

Chief Minister Manohar Joshi would write to his West Bengal counterpart Jyoti Basu tomorrow, Munde said while affirming that the deportees were Bangladeshi nationals and notpeople from West Bengal. When asked if the immigrants posed any threat to the city, considering the state’s over-enthusiasm in flushing them out despite Calcutta High Court’s restraining orders, the home minister replied: “The court had only asked us to stop the deportations of a specific few cases; but our policy is firm on the matter, which is why we are going to pursue the matter in Calcutta. And whether there is a threat perception or not, we cannot allow illegal immigrants to stay here.”

Munde also stated that the state will seek the arrest of the Forward Block leader Rabin Ghosh who had recently incited a mob attack near Calcutta to stop a special team of Mumbai police from carrying the deportees in the Kurla-Howrah Express. “The Forward Bloc MLA took the law into his hands and orchestrated an attack on the Maharashtra Police escorts instead of going to the court,” Munde said.

Meanwhile the saffron brigade may clash with the opposition in the Parliament tomorrow on this controversial issue. Thisbecame evident today when the Bengal Congress committee working president said the CPP will raise the issue of deportation of Bengali `zari’ workers by the Maharashtra Government in the Lok Sabha tomorrow.

Pradesh Congress president, P R Dasmunshi, said today that the CPP decision was taken after the West Bengal Pradesh Congress had taken up the issue with the party chief Sonia Gandhi. Dasmunshi said Sonia Gandhi had been apprised of the situation arising out of the `forcible’ deportation of so-called Bangladeshi infiltrators in batches from Maharashtra by the government there. He said the “token relief” given by the Calcutta High Court by way of restraining the police from deporting the people was “not enough” and demanded that the Centre and the ruling Left Front send ministerial delegations to Maharashtra to impress upon the government not to precipitate the matter. The PCC, he said, believed things might get worse in view of statements by the Maharashtra home minister and Sena leaders oncontinuation of evictions.