Guwahati: Veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani on Tuesday blames largescale immigration from Bangladesh for the clashes in lower Assam, Advani on Tuesday said government’s “inaction” in dealing with the problem of infiltrators has resulted in indigenous communities feeling threatened.
The BJP veteran, who was on a tour to the violence-hit areas in the state, said the conflict should be seen as an “Indian vs. foreigner issue, and not as a Hindu vs. Muslim issue”.
The over week-long violence from July 19 between the Bodos and the Bengali-speaking Muslim settlers left 56 people dead and lakhs homeless.
“Today’s situation has arisen firstly because of criminal delay in dealing with the situation when symptoms were already there.”
“But introspection must lead to the identification of the root cause which is the issue of illegal migration from Bangladesh of which serious note has been taken even by the Supreme Court,” Advani told reporters here.
“As a result of the infiltration in collusion of state government and government of India, people of Assam are feeling that they are losing control over their own land while illegal Bangladeshis have embarked upon large-scale land grab,” Advani said.
“The second is the ethnic problem. The Bodos face the threat of marginalisation in their own land,” he said.
“The third problem is the demographic change taking place in Assam,” he said.
The BJP leader, who visited trouble-torn Kokrajhar district on Monday, said the recent events in Assam were a ‘blot’ on the entire country.
“I visited Kokrajhar on Mnday. I can say it is very distressing when such a large number of people are rendered homeless,” he said.
Making a comparison with the situation in Jammu & Kashmir, Advani hoped that no other community is made a refugee in their own country like Kashmiri Pandits, who were victims of terrorism.
Comparing the situation of the displaced in Assam with that of the displaced Kashmiri Pundits, Advani said: “I would like the prime minister (Manmohan Singh), Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) and state government of Assam to honestly introspect as to where the guilt lies. How did all this happen?”
He said the current conflict cannot be attributed merely as a communal or ethnic conflict alone.
“I don’t attribute this issue to any communal or ethnic factors alone. They contribute in their own way. But the basic issue is the feeling that indigenous Assamese people have about being squeezed out and they are being deprived of rightful ownership of land by illegal immigration,” he said.
He accused the Centre and Assam government of not taking any action to detect and deport illegal immigrants even seven years after the Supreme Court had stuck down the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act in July, 2005.
“I would like the Prime Minister, the Congress president and the Assam government to introspect on how this situation arose,” he said.
Advani said the government’s inaction in dealing with the problem of infiltrators had resulted in the indigenous communities feeling threatened.
“Indigenous communities are losing control of their land while illegal Bangladeshi immigrants have embarked on a largescale land grab policy,” Advani observed.
“This has also given rise to ethnic problems faced by the Bodos. They feel threatened that they would be marginalised in their own region and in their own lands,” he felt.
Advani said the problem of immigration is also leading to change in demography in the state.
He said people of Assam have a feeling that they would be squeezed out and ‘disempowered’.
“I hold that the combined effect of these three problems (of land, ethnicity and change in demography) that has emanated from this illegal infiltration is a serious threat to the unity, integrity and security of India,” he said.
Asked if the issue of illegal arms at the hands of some former Bodo underground rebels was not an issue, Advani said Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had also expressed concern in this regard.
Chidambaram had mentioned about the kind of arms that were being illegally amassed by organisations of that kind, he said adding “they have to be dealt with”. (PTI)