Politics of numbers

The Supreme Court judgment striking down the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act 1983 as ultra vires brings to the fore the growing concern that the country does not have an adequate legal mechanism to address the vexed issue of illegal migrants from Bangladesh. The large-scale movement of people, over the years, into India’s northeastern and eastern states from across the Bangladesh border has created innumerable political and social crises for India. The verdict must be welcomed because it places the issue of illegal migration firmly on the national stage. We need to re-examine it without the political baggage that has inevitably, and unhappily, always accompanied it. In fact, all political groupings — from the Congress and Left, on one end of the spectrum, to the BJP, VHP and AGP, on the other, would be doing the nation a great service if they stopped playing politics over the issue — because it is their political games that come in the way of an effective national consensus emerging on the issue.

The problem does not go away by the simple expedient of not addressing it. We need, first of all, to recognise not just that there is a problem but the enormous significance of that problem, in terms of the country’s security and social harmony. After all, when West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, himself, recognises the demographic transformation taking place in West Bengal’s border districts — and remember his party had actually perfected the art of giving voting cards to illegal migrants — you had better believe him. Bhattacharya has also highlighted, time and again, the fact that jehadi groups are operating in the border regions without let or hindrance. Although a reliable estimation of the exact number of illegal Bangla migrants presently in this country is difficult to arrive at, they certainly constitute several million, and the figure rises with every passing day.

Bangladesh, on its part, has refused to even acknowledge the phenomenon. It needs to understand, clearly and unequivocally, the seriousness with which India views this influx. The border between the two nations, comprising large stretches of riverine tracts is like a sieve, and unless both countries evolve mechanisms to stem the cross-border movement, it could be a source of great acrimony and tension in the future.