Sangh’s Assam Rath

The IMDT Act, introduced in 1983, is applicable only to Assam. In other states, illegal migrants are tried under the Foreigners’ Act. Under the provisions of this Act, the person who files a case against an illegal migrant has to prove the defendant’s citizenship.

While the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad and AASU have been demanding a repeal of this Act, claiming it was a hurdle in detecting and deporting illegal migrants, the Congress supports the legislation. During the AGP rule, the Assam government had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court pleading for the Act’s repeal. It changed its stand and suggested retaining the IMDT Act after the Congress assumed power in May 2001.

‘‘Ours was a two-pronged campaign: to make the people of Assam aware that the Bangladeshi migrants are still here and pose a grave threat to the integrity and security of the country and to send a message to Delhi that Assam wants the Act to go for good,’’ claims Narayan Borkataki, former president of the state BJP.

He also pointed out that the campaign, christened ‘janajagaran rath yatra’ travelled through all the 23 districts of the state, covering 115 of Assam’s 126 assembly segments. He also said the BJP’s attempt to focus on the need to repeal the IMDT Act was not like that of the AGP or the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU).

While the BJP claims its yatras have been successful in convincing the people of Assam that the IMDT Act was on its way out, the Congress holds a contrary view. ‘‘The BJP has suddenly woken up because elections are drawing near. Moreover, the BJP’s rath yatra is aimed at whipping up communal passion in the peaceful state,’’ says chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

Official statistics reveal that much larger numbers of illegal migrants were deported from Assam in the 1960s, and 70s than after 1985 when the IMDT Act came into effect (see graphics).

Officials in the border police department said while the IMDT tribunals declared 10,806 persons as Bangladeshis, expulsion notices could be served only on 5,999.

In November, 1997, Sinha had sent a detailed report to the President giving a vivid account of the situation arising out of infiltration. Today, he has become busy again, providing the intellectual leadership to the entire movement for identifying illegal immigrants.