ID :
34775
Wed, 12/10/2008 - 09:14
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http://m.oananews.org//node/34775
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Infiltration issue haunts Bangladeshi settlers in Kendrapara
Kendrapara (Orissa), Dec 9 (PTI) After a three-year hiatus, the infiltration issue has returned to haunt the Bangladeshi settlers in coastal Kendrapara district in eastern India's coastal state of Orissa with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists staging a rally here demanding their expeditious deportation.
The demonstration held before the Collectorate Monday
was first of its kind to have taken place in the district
though demands from various quarters to drive out unlawful
settlers have been voiced from time to time.
The protestors walked through the main thoroughfares of
this district headquarter town amid tight security.
"Bangladeshis have made Kendrapara the hub of their
activity. With around 2,000 infiltrators so far identified by
government agencies, their actual number has gone beyond one
lakh. It's high time these foreign settlers are properly
detected and deported at the earliest," Gopinath Sahu, state
organising secretary of ABVP, said.
Bangladeshi nationals have been entering India at
regular intervals and the administration has failed to curb
the same, he alleged.
The infiltration issue had been relegated following
widespread opposition to the January 15, 2005, move to deport
1,551 "illegal settlers" from Mahakalapada tehsil of this
district.
Political forces and rights activists had rallied behind
the Bangla nationals after they were asked to pack their bags
and were served 'Quit India' notice in accordance with the
Foreigners Act.
Even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had all
along been passionately critical of exodus of foreign
nationals into this coastal region, opposed the deportation of
Bangla infiltrators on the ground that they were Hindus.
To cap it all, discrepancies and follies in enumeration
of foreign nationals were too glaring to escape notice. There
were instances of dead being asked to leave the country
through Quit India notice.
Things had also taken bizzare proportions as there were
instances of bonafide Indian citizens and government employees
being served the deportation notice.
Pressure exerted by political forces coupled with
lopsided enumeration of foreign nationals had forced the
government to stall the deportation exercise.
Even though unofficial estimates project over 50,000
Bangladeshis to have made their way into this district, hardly
1,677 Bangladeshi nationals have unlawfully settled here
according to official figures.
Apart from 1,551 foreign nationals in Mahakalapada, there
are 126 others residing in Rajnagar and Pattamundai areas.
Paradoxically, Rajganagar-Pattamundai region is widely
regarded as the potential infiltration hub. PTI COR
The demonstration held before the Collectorate Monday
was first of its kind to have taken place in the district
though demands from various quarters to drive out unlawful
settlers have been voiced from time to time.
The protestors walked through the main thoroughfares of
this district headquarter town amid tight security.
"Bangladeshis have made Kendrapara the hub of their
activity. With around 2,000 infiltrators so far identified by
government agencies, their actual number has gone beyond one
lakh. It's high time these foreign settlers are properly
detected and deported at the earliest," Gopinath Sahu, state
organising secretary of ABVP, said.
Bangladeshi nationals have been entering India at
regular intervals and the administration has failed to curb
the same, he alleged.
The infiltration issue had been relegated following
widespread opposition to the January 15, 2005, move to deport
1,551 "illegal settlers" from Mahakalapada tehsil of this
district.
Political forces and rights activists had rallied behind
the Bangla nationals after they were asked to pack their bags
and were served 'Quit India' notice in accordance with the
Foreigners Act.
Even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had all
along been passionately critical of exodus of foreign
nationals into this coastal region, opposed the deportation of
Bangla infiltrators on the ground that they were Hindus.
To cap it all, discrepancies and follies in enumeration
of foreign nationals were too glaring to escape notice. There
were instances of dead being asked to leave the country
through Quit India notice.
Things had also taken bizzare proportions as there were
instances of bonafide Indian citizens and government employees
being served the deportation notice.
Pressure exerted by political forces coupled with
lopsided enumeration of foreign nationals had forced the
government to stall the deportation exercise.
Even though unofficial estimates project over 50,000
Bangladeshis to have made their way into this district, hardly
1,677 Bangladeshi nationals have unlawfully settled here
according to official figures.
Apart from 1,551 foreign nationals in Mahakalapada, there
are 126 others residing in Rajnagar and Pattamundai areas.
Paradoxically, Rajganagar-Pattamundai region is widely
regarded as the potential infiltration hub. PTI COR
