Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed his concern over the issue of increasing infiltration from Bangladesh. He highlighted Rohingya use Northeastern States, including Assam, mostly as transit points to reach other parts of Bharat.
Dr Himanta expressed, “Assam is facing a national issue, the issue of Rohingya infiltration is not just an issue of the State. They use Assam and Tripura mostly as a transit point to enter Bharat from Bangladesh. The Assam Police and its Special Task Force (STF) teams work hard to nab the touts, who help them get fake documents.”
Assam Police Crackdown
In February 2023, the Assam Police from Karimganj District intercepted a group of Rohingya heading to Delhi by train. The probe revealed a bigger conspiracy.
It was revealed that the Indo-Bangladesh Border in Tripura and West Bengal are the entry points facilitated by a network of touts in Bangladesh and Bharat, informed Assam DIG Partha Sartha Mahanta on Wednesday.
The Special Task Force led by the Assam DIG managed to apprehend touts with false documents.
DIG Mahanta stated, “The preferred destinations via Assam are Delhi, Jammu, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kerala. They mostly move in trains and buses, which makes it difficult to detect them. There is a demand for cheap labour, which the touts help fulfil.”
“After the Assam CM started monitoring, we ramped up our operations. We intensified checking at international and inter State borders, checking trains and buses coming from border areas. So far, the Assam Police have detected 137 Rohingya and 304 Bangladeshis entering illegally. All of them have been sent back with assistance of the BSF,” he added.
Mahanta continued, “In a major operation recently, the Assam STF cracked down on illegal Rohingya immigrants, arrested nine persons from Tripura and three touts, including 2 Bangladeshi nationals, from Tripura and one from Assam.
Two cases were registered. One was taken up by the NIA. Subsequently, in a joint operation, 47 touts were arrested in the country, the highest (25) in Tripura, followed by Karnataka with 9 arrests. This has been the biggest crackdown on Rohingya in Bharat.”
Further, the National Crime Records Bureau, in its latest report, has brought to light a 50 per cent drop in crime rate in Assam in comparison to 2021.
A noteworthy drop has been witnessed in crime rates against women and children as well, reflecting the State Government’s commitment to mitigate crime through many reforms in policing. The Assam CM stated that the new data can be dubbed as a turnover for the State.
“I am sure by 2023, when the NCRB data will be released, our position will improve. This is the first time, probably since 1979, that we have seen a turnaround.”
History of Rohingya Community in Myanmar
In Myanmar, Rohingya Muslims were brought there during the British colonial period. After Independence, in 1948, Myanmar refused citizenship to the Rohingya.
At the beginning, citizens with families, who had lived in Myanmar for at least two centuries, were permitted to apply for citizenship. After the military coup in 1962, the Myanmar Government began issuing foreign identity cards to them.
Problem escalated for Rohingyas when in 1982, a new citizenship law was passed, which did not recognise Rohingya as one of the country’s 135 ethnic groups because they had sided with the British. This rendered the Rohingya Stateless.
The community wanders from place to place, mostly illegally. They are also accused of crimes such as rape and murder, drug trafficking, women and children trafficking, human trafficking.
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