From: DXA4@PSUVM.PSU.EDU (Dinesh Agrawal)
Subject: India - BJP Plans Yatra on Infiltration from Bangladesh
Organization: Penn State Univeristy
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 92 01:46:18 GMT

From	: Dinesh Agrawal
Source	: Times of India, August 24, 1992
Country	: India

* BJP Plans Yatra on Infiltration from Bangladesh

Bhopal, August 23: There were clear indications today that the BJP would take
up the issue of infiltration from Bangladesh on a big scale and shortly under-
take a yatra from Parshuram Kund in Arunchal Pradesh to highlight the fallout.
The five-page resolution adopted by the party's national executive here today
appeared similar - in more ways than one - to the memorandum submitted by the
All Assam Students Union at the height of the six-year agitation  on foreign
nationals.

It spoke of detection and deportation of Muslim infiltrators, their disenfran-
chisement and the need to prepare a national register of citizens (NRC); these
have been some of the principal demands of the AASU and the AGP.

The senior party leader, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, told correspondents that
ways to highlight the infiltration issue were being worked out by a committee
formed by the BJP president, Dr. M.M. Joshi.

One of these is to undertake a yatra from Parshuram Kund in Arunchal Pradesh
through the affected areas, including West Bengal, Bihar and Delhi. According
to the party, the government's attitude to the question affecting national
security was 'perfunctory'.


Figures compiled by the party shows that over 15 million foreign nationals
having 'sneaked' into Assam, Tripura, Bihar and West Bengal. Political patro-
nage on the Indian side, alleged the resolution, encouraged infiltration in
large numbers and dissuaded security agencies and the police from acting
against the infiltrators. Lakhs of Bangladesh nationals had fanned out in
cities like Delhi, Bombay, Ahamdabad, Cuttack, Hydrabad, Bangalore, Kanpur,
Patna and Allahabad and in the small towns of Rajasthan, Gujrat and Bihar.

NINE STEPS: The national executive called for nine steps to be taken urgently
on this issue: all Bangladeshi infiltrators be detected by strict scrutiny
through house-tohouse enumeration and deported; all such infiltrators be purged
from the voters' list; strict legislation be enacted to punish persons directly
or indirectly patronising the infiltrators; border vigil be strengthened and
personnel frequently transferred to weed out vested interests; a joint commi-
ssion comprising all intelligence gathering agencies be constituted to facili-
tate efficient monitoring of information; a joint task force in the north-east
and eastern India be created to put an effective check on infiltration (such a
force should be formed in Tripura and West Bengal immediately); a national
register of citizens (NRC) be prepared and voters' identity cards be issued
in all the states of eastern India; sale deeds of immoveable properties in
border states not be registered without a thorough scrutiny and the question
of violation of human rights by Bangladesh be taken up at international fora.

Mr. Vajpayee clarified it was not a question of Hindus or Muslims; Bangladesh
could not be allowed to pass on its poverty to India. Senior BJP leaders are
scheduled to meet the Prime Minister, Mr. Rao, soon. The need to have a
national policy on such issues would be stressed. According to him, merely
acquiring ration cards did not entitle a person to citizenship which has to be
"acquired".

According to information gathered by the party, Bangladeshi infiltrators had
bought land on a large scale along the border but Hindu refugees from that
country were being prevented from doing so on the pretext that they were
nationals of Bangladesh. Mr. Vajpayee said a lagislation should be enacted to
prohibit sale and purchase of property along the country's borders.

Mr. Vajpayee alleged that organisations like the Jamat-e-Islami and the Islamic
Sewak Sangh were injecting the communal virus through these infiltrators in the
north-east and eastern India. Literature supporting the formation of an indepen
dent "Greater Bangla" including Bangladesh, West Bengal, Assam. other north-
eastern states and parts of Bihar and Orissa, were being circulated, noted the
resolution. It added that some Bangladeshi leaders had been advocating the
theory of lebensraum (natural living space) for the teeming millions of the
neighboring country.

"The pressure exerted by a very large number of foreigners on the economy of
the states of eastern India is a deterrent to the economic progress and employ-
ment potential of these states. Smuggling on the border deprives India of daily
necessities like sugar, kerosene, pulses, rice, common salt and spices which
often become scarce in these states. The inflow of gold, electronic goods,
drugs, narcotics and arms play havoc with the economic stability, social peace
and, of course, enthuse political violence and terrorism," stated the
resolution.

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