Chief Minister Subhendu Adhikari.
Bangla Press Desk: A new debate has started surrounding Chief Minister Shuvendu Adhikari's claim that 10,000 infiltrators have been sent back to Bangladesh from West Bengal, India. After this statement made in the state assembly, a section of opposition circles, human rights activists and political observers have raised various questions.
In particular, discussions have started on how such a large number of people were identified, in what process they crossed the border and why no official information from the central agency or the border guard force is coming to the fore in this regard.
Participating in the discussion on the Governor's speech in the assembly on Tuesday (June 23), the Chief Minister claimed that 10,000 infiltrators have been sent to Bangladesh in the last one and a half months.
She also said that about 1,800 more people are in 12 temporary detention centers in the state and regular action is being taken against them. Questions arose in political circles after this statement of the Chief Minister came to light. Because earlier in his conversation with journalists, he had said that about 4,800 people had been sent back to Bangladesh.
At the same time, he had mentioned that the number of people in the detention centers was also very small at that time. As a result, a new debate has arisen over the gap between the two statements.
Critics say that if such a large number of people were sent to Bangladesh, there should be some administrative documents, border-related information or government statistics. But so far, such detailed information has not been made public. The Border Guard has also not officially provided any figures in this regard.
There was a discussion about the recent incident of some families being taken towards the border in the state's border areas. Some videos circulating on social media also show a humanitarian crisis involving women and children in the no-man's land area of the border. Later, news of some of them being brought back and provided with medical and food assistance came to light.
While addressing the assembly, the Chief Minister said that the benefits of the state's social security programs should be extended to genuine citizens. She claimed that illegal residents were creating additional pressure on government resources.
She said that action would be taken against those identified as infiltrators as per the law. However, opposition parties alleged that efforts were being made to reduce the number of beneficiaries in various social schemes keeping in mind the issue of infiltration.
They claim that the government has not yet released any information that would prove that a large number of infiltrators were taking government benefits. According to political analysts, the issue of borders, citizenship and infiltration has long been an important issue in West Bengal politics. This debate is likely to intensify in view of the upcoming elections. At the same time, there is a possibility of a new discussion on border management, human rights and immigration policy between Bangladesh and India. Meanwhile, demands have been made from various quarters for the administration to release detailed information on the Chief Minister's demand. According to observers, the government must present transparent information to clarify the real situation. Only then can this debate be put to an end. Source: jugantor
BP/TD
