Vote-bank politics – obstacle to banish illegal Bangladeshi migrants from India

Time and again the problems for having a humongous populace of illegal Bangladeshi nationals in India are highlighted in the media; painstaking discussions of their lot are witnessed and surely no representative of any political spectrum (whatever it is) has ever been found to support this vast illegitimate presence. Yet the problem refuses to cease to exist and India, in the end, becomes the greatest loser as the growth of illegal migrants from across the border remains unchecked. What does prevent governments from adopting tough measures like banishment of migrants altogether?  The answer is simple; it is the vote-bank politics – bottom line in the contemporary Indian political scenario.  

It must be stated, meanwhile, majority of these migrants are Muslims, if not more. Hindus, on the contrary, are refugees or exiles who flee for safety – to save skin and kith and kin from mounting Islamic persecution in Bangladesh.

And this theory has been put forward by none other than a Delhi court, disappointed to watch how the temptation of "petty vote-bank politics" forbids any governmental approach against three crore Bangladesh nationals remaining in New Delhi illicitly and taking pleasure in everything.

On the word of Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau, “It is unfortunate that while genuine citizens of this country continue to suffer in abject poverty, it is petty vote-bank politics which prevents a firm, resolute and intense government action against the three crore Bangladeshi nationals illegally staying in our country, enjoying all the benefits which otherwise are the entitlements of citizens, thereby compelling the court to step in."

All these were stated by the court in public while sentencing a Bangladeshi national for 4 years due to his illegal staying in the national capital.

In accordance with the court, Fazlu, Bangladeshi national and also the convict, had been connected to an assortment of criminal activities and (hence) cases in New Delhi. What is more shocking Fazlu, at the same instant, was keeping a family in his own country – Bangladesh. The court is confident that Fazlu, like tens of thousands of others, made use of  the “porous border". The "porous border" enabled him to enter and escape India at any time.

The Hon’ble judge also stated, "I may observe that convict Fazlu is a foreigner being a Bangladeshi...is maintaining a family in Bangladesh but in an attempt to create his rights in India, is also maintaining a family consisting of two wives (whose citizenship he has withheld from the court) and seven children in India.” "Further, as per information from Investigating Officer Fazlu, taking advantage of the porous border, frequently crosses over and while in India has involved himself in a number of criminal cases."

The court has also directed the concerned authority to deport Fazlu to Bangladesh once his jail term ends.

We hope that this wise expectation will not end in a fiasco.