The arrest of the suspect in the stabbing case of Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, who turned out to be an illegal Bangladeshi infiltrator has reignited concerns about unauthorised entry and implications on national security. The illegal Bangladeshi immigrant, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammed Rohilla Amin Fakir, was arrested for an attempted robbery and assault at his Bandra residence. According to police, Fakir entered India through Dawki River in Meghalaya seven months back.
Meghalaya, which shares a 443 km border with Bangladesh, is experiencing threats almost every day as illegal immigrants continue to sneak in through the jungles and unfenced stretch of Indo-Bangladesh border with the help of Indian touts to cross over. It is claimed that touts in the state are taking Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per person to facilitate illegal entry of Bangladeshi immigrants through damaged or unfenced portions of the border.
While the Border Security Force (BSF) manning the international border in Meghalaya apprehended close to a dozen illegal immigrants this month alone, yet the State government recently refused claims made Delhi police of immigrants entering the national capital through Meghalaya and said it does not have reports of any illegal immigration from Bangladesh in the past two or three months. This suggests inefficient coordination between central and state agencies that hampers effective border management.
As entry of such illegal immigrants into the country is clandestine and surreptitious, even the best border force will not be able to stop immigrants and with the centre or the state governments not having an estimated data of such illegal immigrants, this poses as one of the challenges in addressing unauthorised immigration.
In India illegal immigrants have managed to obtain voter identity cards, ration cards and driving licences and even the current accused, Fakir got a West Bengal resident’s Aadhaar card. These illegal immigrants easily secure blue-collar jobs and comfortably mingle with Indians.
It is up to the central and state governments with a political will to address the problem like the Donald Trump administration who directed mass deportation of 13.3 million undocumented immigrants, otherwise round the clock surveillance, patrolling, observation posts, border fencing, patrol roads and flood lighting even hi-tech equipments cannot and will not in distant future stop illegal entry. What is needed is a coordinated action to detect immigrants from Bangladesh and a joint verification procedure acceptable to both countries.
