Indian Home Minister Amit Shah today commended the BJP-led government in Assam state for strongly tackling illegal migration but alleged the Trinamool Congress government in neighbouring West Bengal was not cooperating with the Centre in dealing with the problem.
Addressing a public rally to mark the first anniversary of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government in Assam, Shah said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to ending the problem of infiltration but claimed “[West] Bengal is not cooperating with the Centre”, our New Delhi correspondent reports.
“Assam is standing rock-solid be. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .hind the Centre and is fighting the problem strongly with the result evident in the remarkable decrease in illegal infiltration,” Shah said.
The home minister said that he had visited the India-Bangladesh border at Mankachar in Assam on Monday and “the data reveals that during the last six years, infiltration has declined considerably and we hope to completely end it soon”.
Referring to the earlier rampant cattle smuggling to Bangladesh through Assam, Shah said the Himanta Biswa Sarma’s government has ensured that all doors in the state has been closed for cattle smugglers.
The issue of illegal migration is an important part of the political narrative in Assam which had witnessed a violent prolonged agitation in 1980s leading to the Assam Peace Accord which promised to identify “foreigners” and de-franchise them.
The issue has been taken up by the BJP-led NDA which has promised to bring a National Register for Citizens to exclude illegal migrants.
