North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) has written to the Prime Minister, seeking his immediate intervention to prevent illegal immigration from Bangladesh to the Northeastern states and also urged not to grant asylum or rehabilitation to even a single Bangladeshi in the entire NE region.
The appeal jointly signed by chairman, NESO, Samuel Jyrwa and secretary general, NESO, Mutsikhoyo Yhobu addressed the ongoing crisis in Bangladesh and the anticipated repercussions in Northeast India
It highlighted the tumultuous events in the neighboring country of Bangladesh and expressed concern that the situation can have serious ramifications in India especially in the North East Region whereby four states share a common international boundary with Bangladesh.
The ongoing crisis in Bangladesh will and may lead to an exodus of its nationals into the country especially in the North East region, it asserted. It noted that past events indicate that whenever there is a civil war or a riot in Bangladesh, the NE region always had to bear the brunt of mass illegal immigration from the country.
It recalled the partition in 1947 and the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 respectively, where numerous Bengalis from East Pakistan and East Pakistanis illegally entered the Country and forcibly occupied lands, creating a demographic imbalance especially in the NE region.
It pointed out that the Northeast is home to a plethora of indigenous communities and said that the arrival of millions of illegal foreigners from other countries led to a contestation of space, forced cultural assimilation, economic competition and distrust between the indigenous populace and the foreigners.
It expressed unfortunate that the illegal settlement of these millions of foreigners led to a drastic alteration of the demographic structure in most regions of the seven North Eastern states. It noted the mass illegal influx of migrants in Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, creating insecurity, agitations, riots and clashes between them and the indigenous people.
It reiterated its appeal to the PM for his immediate intervention to prevent illegal entry to the Northeastern states from Bangladesh and not to grant rehabilitation to them in the NE. It is also imperative for the Centre to ensure that the border between North East India and Bangladesh is thoroughly and strictly manned so as to detect attempted illegal migration from across the border, it asserted.
It further mentioned that NESO is a conglomeration of eight students’ bodies representing the seven states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.
