Indian Prime Ministerial candidate threatens to deport Bangladeshis
April 29, 2014: In yet another vitriolic remark, Narendra Modi, a leader of the BJP
and prime ministerial candidate for the ongoing Indian election, has said Bangladeshis
will be thrown out of India as soon as he comes to power.
Modi was speaking
on Sunday at an election rally in Serampore, West Bengal, which shares a porous border
with Bangladesh. “You can write it down. After May 16, these Bangladeshis better be
prepared with their bags packed,” he said.
Modi targeted Mamata Banerjee’s
Trinamool Congress government, and said: “You are spreading the red carpet for vote
bank politics. If people come from Bihar, they are outsiders to you. If people come
from Odisha, they are outsiders to you. However, if some Bangladeshi comes, your face
seems to shine. This country cannot run like this. We won’t allow you to destroy the
country for the sake of your vote bank politics.”
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee yesterday retorted that the “people of Bengal will throw him [Modi]
out.”
On a day marked by a war of words between her Trinamool Congress party
and the BJP leader, a furious Mamata lashed out at Modi for accusing her of welcoming
Bangladeshi immigrants for votes.
“Mr Modi wants to pack off Bengalis from
India. Who is he to decide?” Mamata said, adding that Bangladeshis came to India under
a pact signed in 1971 by then prime minister Indira Gandhi and the first president
of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“Mr Modi does not know history. He does
not know that speaking in Bangla does not make one a Bangladeshi. Modi wants to divide
Bengalis and non-Bengalis. Anyone who speaks in Bangla across India is branded a Bangladeshi.
This is discrimination. If on Bengal’s soil he says Bangladeshis will have to pack
their bags and go, people of Bengal will throw him out,” she said.
Deporting
illegal Bangladeshi immigrants has always been a part of the BJP’s agenda; however,
Modi’s sharp comments indicate it could move beyond rhetoric if the party comes to
power after the national election.
“If the BJP came to power, it would investigate
how so many people of a particular community could enter the country illegally, and
settle down,” said BJP President Rajnath Singh recently in a statement.
Some
reports suggest that there are about 20 million Bangladeshi immigrants in India at
present, however there are no reliable figures. The BJP calls them a drain on the
nation’s income and resources.
Bangladeshi immigration to India results mainly
due to the communal tension that periodically rocks the country, mainly right after
election-time. Even though many who cross the border in search of greener grass, ultimately
fail and return while the cash and assets they had get lost in transition. (Source:
UCAN)