Illegal Migrants of Bangladesh in Assam

Identification of foreign Bangladeshis in the Indian state of Assam has indeed been a complex problem. In this sequence, there were many movements in the state which took violent forms. But this problem has still arisen and the BJP Chief Minister of the state, Mr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, wants to eradicate it from its roots, due to which he has decided to implement the 1950 law in which the District Magistrate of any district has the right to identify any foreign national and extradite him to Bangladesh. To implement this law, Mr. Sarma called a special one-day session of the state assembly and announced the implementation of the 1950 law, which was also opposed by the opposition party legislators, but Mr. Sarma made it clear that no one can stop him from extraditing foreigners under the 1950 law as the Supreme Court of the country has already decided in October 2024. Under this law, if the District Collector finds that he has proof of the primary nationality of a citizen, he can send him to Bangladesh and no other law comes in the way of this even if the name of the citizen is registered in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The problem of illegal Bangladeshis has many dimensions. After East Pakistan was officially declared Bangladesh in December 1971, a treaty was signed between India and Bangladesh in 1972, which is called the Indira-Mujib Agreement. Under this agreement, Bangladeshi refugees who had come to Assam till March 24, 1971 will be allowed to take citizenship of any country from India or Bangladesh, but those refugees who have come to India after this date will have to go back to Bangladesh. On March 23, 1971, the Liberation War was going on in East Pakistan and the Awami League Party of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman also formed the government in exile of independent Bangladesh. This government continued till the month of December when independent Bangladesh was formed. After this, under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, there was a complete crisis in Dhaka. Because of this, in October 2024, the Supreme Court of the country ruled that any Bangladeshi who has come to India after 24 March will have to return to their country. But now Assam Chief Minister Mr. Sarma has also made it clear that keeping all the facts in mind, if the District Magistrate of any district finds any citizen suspicious, he will be sent back to Bangladesh. No other process will come in between.

The Foreigners Tribunal was set up in 1964 to address the problem of illegal immigrants in the state. But this was the pre-1971 arrangement. Under this, a person with doubtful citizenship had the right to prove himself as an Assamese native. But there were many flaws in this system also. This led to a very violent student movement in Assam in the 70-80s. Mr. Sarma's view on the whole issue is very clear that he is not ready to keep a single illegal Bangladeshi in his state and that is why he is implementing the 1950 law. In October 2024, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ruled 4-1 that citizenship cannot be granted to any Bangladeshi who entered Assam after March 24 and that the 1950 law is perfectly valid and there is no difficulty in implementing it. The Constitution Bench was headed by retired Chief Justice of India D.Y. Ramachandran. Chandrachud did it. The Supreme Court had clearly said that Bangladeshis who came after March 24 can be sent back under the 1950 law. Therefore, the Supreme Court had given full powers to the state government in this regard. Therefore, Mr. Sarma called a one-day session of the Assembly to implement this decision of the Supreme Court. Mr. Sarma said that the state assembly has every right to implement the law of the country. The state government has full authority to maintain law and order in the state of Assam. Accordingly, the decision of the Chief Minister is considered important. So far, identification of foreigners in Assam has been done only through the Foreigners Tribunal. The tribunal also has certain judicial powers due to which it examines the citizenship of a citizen.

Now the change will come that any District Magistrate of the state will get the right to check citizenship in his district, due to which the identification of illegal Bangladeshis will be very easy. As many as 330 illegal immigrants have been deported to Bangladesh by the state government in the last few weeks alone. But since the overthrow of the elected Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh on August 5, Islamic fundamentalists have become active in this country and the temporary Mohammad Yunus government of this country has been taken over by these elements, due to which the infiltration of illegal citizens in Assam has taken a new dimension. From the point of view of national security also, it is very important that not a single suspected Bangladeshi remains in Assam because fundamentalists from Pakistan-backed Bangladesh can enter illegally.