Influx a major threat to demography: WB CM
From Kalyan Barooah
NEW DELHI, Sept 6 Illegal infiltration threatens to distort the demographic pattern along the borders. Training camps are flourishing inside Indias neighbouring country, where young men are trained in the use of weapons and explosives and they infiltrate into the country with the intention of carrying out terror strikes and subversive strikes.
If you are trying to guess, who the speaker was, think again, for you might be in for surprise, because it was none other then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattcharya and not any Chief Minister of a BJP-ruled State. His speech at the meeting of the Chief Ministers on internal security left the Central Government and the Left parties
equally stunned.
Yesterdays meeting had more than its share of surprises, as Congress and Left-ruled Chief Ministers made a hue and cry over the illegal infiltration from Bangladesh. If Bhattacharya was concerned, Asom Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, albeit belatedly admitted that the State faced threats from jehadi elements, while Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda asked Centre to issue work permit to Bangladeshi migrants.
The threat from across the border, the Chief Minister felt was ominous, the Prime Minister was cautioned.
It seems that there has been paradigm shift in the strategy and the eastern border is now the platform chosen for launching terror strikes in the Indian hinterland. Intelligence inputs also reveal that the hostile intelligence agencies of our neighbouring country are intent on recruiting young men from improvised families and indoctrinating them with the poison of hatred for India, said the West Bengal Chief
Minister.
The Royal Bhutan Government carried out a major offensive and cleared Bhutanese territory of these Indian insurgent groups, although inputs available with us indicate that these groups are again trying to set up highly compact, extremely mobile camps, which can be rapidly dismantled and moved at the first indication of the approach of security forces, said Bhattacharya.
The West Bengal Chief Minister was referring to ULFAs latest bid to re-establish its camps in Bhutan, which was reported by this newspaper. The Bhutanese Army Chief had held an emergent meeting Chief of Army Staff General J.J.Singh in Delhi to take stock of the situation following the news reports.
Meanwhile, stopping short of calling for a similar flush-out operation in Bangladesh, the West Bengal Chief Minister stressed early completion of the border fencing project, if necessary, by deviating from the rigid 150-yard line to include villages located near the
border.
The two border guarding forces, the BSF and SSB are deployed along the international borders but these are spread somewhat thinly on the ground, he said.
The BSF is entrusted with guarding the Indo-Bangladesh border and SSB with Indo-Bhutan border.
Perhaps, taking a cue, Gogoi joined in, conceding that activities of jehadi groups in the State were on the rise. This he said became evident following arrest of a number of such activists in the State.
The Chief Minister called for adequate precaution and cautioned that both Centre and State should remain alert. The possibility of a threat from jehadi groups exists because of proximity of Bangladesh with Asom, he told this newspaper.
What came next from Chief Minister Hooda, was an eye opener for the Centre. He said that Bangladeshi migrants should be provided with work permits and all Indian nationals should be given identity cards.
Asserting that Haryana was facing problems
with illegal migrants from Bangladesh, he pointed out that whenever Delhi Police initiated a drive to catch Bangladeshis to deport them, the offenders sneaked into neighbouring Haryana.
More coordination was needed between security agencies in Delhi and in Haryana to tackle security issues in Delhi and the national capital region (NCR), he said.
Get your email and more, right on the
new Yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
assam mailing list
assam@assamnet.org
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org