By Toki Blah
For regular subscribers of The Shillong Times, the front page reportage, the editorial column and space allocated for public expression – “Letters to the Editor” of ST Dared August 14, 2025, must have held special attention. The peculiarity was I believe purely coincidental, for all the above three, dealt simultaneously on the same day , with the Bangladeshi intrusion into one of the villages of South West Khasi Hills District. The report stated that the Chief Minister brushed off the incident as just another cross border attempt at dacoity. He tried to assure everyone that border security had since then been tightened ( not clear what that means); that the Union Home minister had been informed. The Meghalaya Home Minister emphasized that instructions had been issued that such incidents “should never happen again” (not clear again whether these instructions applied to troublemakers from Bangladesh or to our own police force. Either way it seems an unrealistic statement to make).
The editorial of that day approached the incident from a different angle. It spoke basically of the ease with which illegal migrants from across a porous International border can procure Indian documents to prove they are Indian citizens and their ability to blend in and merge into the local population of the state, with all the demographic dangers this holds for tribal Meghalaya . The third observation by Salil Gewali, spoke of the rise of extremist ideology in Bangladesh and of its fall-out in the North East. He cites the arrest of illegal migrants in Assam linked to Bangla terror outfits such as ABT/ AGIS as well as the ISIS. All three however are clear that the Bangladesh of today is no longer the friendly Bangladesh of yesterday. Something strange but ominous is taking place of which we must be careful of.
On August 5, 2024 the Awami League Government of Sheikh Hasina was overthrown in a rebellion led by radical Islamic elements. A caretaker Government under the Advisorship of Mohamud Yunus then took over the governance of Bangladesh. Since that day the friendly face of our southern neighbour has turned sour. An anti-India policy was adopted and encouraged; India baiting started becoming the national pastime of Bangladesh. For example the open rapprochement with known Indian enemies like China and Pakistan; the statement of their adviser that we are a landlocked region with Bangladesh our only route to the sea; or his call to China to make war with India and then seize the entire Northeast or his plea to the entire Northeast to join Bangladesh and Nepal as economic partners (completely bypassing New Delhi. An inexcusable faux pas in diplomatic decorum). As if the NE is a foreign country of its own. A deliberate and calculated call to create rifts between the North East and the Centre or at its worst an opening gambit for the eventual separation of the region from India.
Side by side is the rapid and rising Islamic radicalization of Bangla youth. These people are openly encouraged by the Yunus Government. This group’s admiration and fascination for Jihadi ideology is an open secret. The ISIS call for a revival of the Caliphate seems to have caught their imagination and they see such a Caliphate stretching from the Philippines to the distant shores of Europe. Now lets join these dots together and what do we find? We find ourselves bang in the middle of a sinister plot to rewrite the political geography of the region, where we, tribal communities of the Northeats become hapless satellites rotating round a radicalized fundamentalist Bangladesh and Shariat law the controlling factor to our lives.
Now based on the above observations, let’s turn back to the South West Khasi Hills incident and the capture of the six Bangladesh infiltrators. From reports we know they were intruders armed with firearms and bombs. From pictures of the captured intruders they do not in the least look like the typical Bangladeshi we usually encounter. All of them come across as well-fed, muscular, athletic individuals; more like international wrestlers than the scrawny Bangladeshi all of us have in mind. So did they cross over on their own to commit dacoity or were they handpicked trained individuals purposely sent to create terror and mayhem at our border villages? My own assessment is the latter. Create terror at Meghalaya’s border villages; cause fear and panic; repeat such acts elsewhere and cause mass exodus from India’s borders. Typical terror tactics. What happens then? Perhaps a gradual takeover of such border villages by Islamists with all the proper documents of Indian citizenship. Marriage with our local women to strengthen Indian identity and permanent Meghalayan resident status is established. Its not impossible. It can be done or is already being done as mentioned in the ST Editorial mentioned above. By then any punitive action to correct matters would be too late. Preventive measures must be taken now to protect ourselves, otherwise it might be too late. So what do we do? Let’s try and find out.
The intrusion this time might just be a tentative probe to find out how prepared we are against such eventualities. Read world events and learn what’s happening around us. The American deep state is interested in fomenting trouble in India’s eastern flank; Pakistan and Wahhabi Islam would like nothing better than Sharia Law taking roots in this remote region; China’s policy has always been to keep India off balance by stirring trouble in this restive sector; and now, conveniently there is this newly founded radical Islamic nation called Bangladesh ready to do their bidding! The whole wretched international conspiracy seems aimed at wiping us out as indigenous people. Illegal immigration into the region , in search of livelihoods, no longer seems to be the objective. The whole narrative has changed. What is happening is more sinister. More insidious. A preconceived plan of action is seemingly at play, to intrude, settle down and then claim ownership over this sparsely populated region and turn it into a predominantly Muslim populated region. With the changed political profile of today’s Bangladesh this has become something worth trying. Luckily for Meghalaya, this time they failed but I have a strong suspicion that they might try again perhaps in a different location using different tactics.
Point is we must be prepared and the only way, keeping in mind the distance of BSF outposts from several border villages and the reluctance of our local patriots to allow increased BSF presence, is for the villagers to defend themselves until adequate help arrives. Increasing BSF 24 x 7 patrolling all along the porous 443 km border is humanly impossible. We must therefore encourage the formation of Village Defence Parties ( VDPs) for each border village. VDPs must be armed and trained in defence tactics. Each VDP should then be digitally linked by mobile to the nearest BSF outpost , to seek quick and more robust protection in case of any misadventure from across the border. Closer VDP interaction with the BSF must be encouraged. For the moment that should suffice. It’s better to be safe than sorry and we must be prepared for the worst if it should come.
Last but not least is the question of influx into Meghalaya. That fear of outsider entry from mainland India, entering Meghalaya through designated land routes, to seek employment and exploitation of our resources, has changed. The danger today is official sponsored migration from across a porous and unregulated international border; through hard– to- check unmarked jungle routes; not to simply find employment , but to settle permanently; to merge with the locals; marry our women; to seize our land; convert and radicalize the locals to fundamental islam (I mean no disrespect to secular and liberal Muslims of Meghalaya) and then eventually demand that based on religion, this part of India should merge with Islamic Bangladesh.
I beg the reader not to treat this as fear mongering or inciting Islamophobia. Instead, realize and accept that the narrative over Influx has changed! Influx is no longer confined to alienation of tribal land but to the total and complete obliteration of who we are today. Our identity as a hill tribe is under threat. ILP can no longer serve as the mechanism to check this type of illegal entry. The 19th century Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873 was simply never designed to check the type of 21st century influx we face today. As pointed out above, if the narrative has changed so should our response to the emerging threat. Our survival in the ultimate analysis will lie in biometric smart cards that can stand any test that seeks to contest our Identity as Indians and Meghalayans. This is important to understand. Firmly establishing our identity as Indian tribals will prevent attempts at an eventual takeover by others. From a civilian perspective, I can see no other influx preventive mechanism except through this procedure. We urgently need a participatory pow-wow among all stakeholders to see how we can make it work.