Has Mamata now trapped BJP on the issue of ‘infiltrators’?
#News Bureau January 2,2025
Is the BJP, which accuses opposition parties of promoting infiltration, itself carrying out infiltration? Till now only Arvind Kejriwal was accusing BJP of settling infiltrators in Delhi, but now Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal has accused them of infiltrating infiltrators into the country. Mamata has alleged that the Center is helping infiltrators to enter India through BSF so that West Bengal can be destabilized. She alleged that illegal infiltrators are being brought in and TMC is being blamed for this. On these allegations, BJP has said that Mamata Banerjee is the only leader in the country who has criticized BSF and abused it.
What is the truth about infiltrators in India? Is there any data on infiltrators living illegally in the country? Who is responsible for this? Before answering these questions, let us know why this latest controversy of infiltrators has come to the fore and why BJP and TMC are making such allegations against each other.
The latest controversy between TMC and BJP has come to the fore when a few days ago the West Bengal Police caught a Bangladeshi citizen living illegally. Four days ago, a Bangladeshi citizen arrested by the police from Bagda in North 24 Parganas was living in India for the last 2 years. The police also said that he had also made an Indian identity card in a fake name. On the same day, Assam Police also arrested another terrorist of Ansarullah Bangla Team.
Earlier, West Bengal Director General of Police Rajiv Kumar had raised many questions on BSF on Sunday. He had said that the responsibility of stopping infiltration from Bangladesh lies with the Border Security Force i.e. BSF. He said, ‘BSF is responsible for border security, but there are many flaws in its operation. Recently many people had crossed the border and entered Bengal, but the police took action and arrested the infiltrators and handed them over to the concerned authorities.’
And now in the meantime, Mamata Banerjee has made a big allegation on the Center. Mamata Banerjee alleged that the BSF, which guards the Bangladesh border, is allowing infiltration in Bengal and is also torturing women. She said, ‘The BSF is allowing infiltration from various areas in Bengal and is torturing women. TMC is not protecting the borders. The border is not in our hands, so if someone accuses TMC of allowing infiltration, then let me tell you that it is the responsibility of the BSF.’
Mamata Banerjee’s remarks during an administrative meeting came weeks after Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleged that infiltration from Bangladesh was disrupting peace in Bengal.
Mamata said in a press conference on Thursday, ‘People are entering through BSF Islampur, Sitai, Chopra, we have news. Why are you not protesting? The border is in the hands of BSF. If anyone feels that they are infiltrating Bengal and defaming Trinamool, then they should be warned that Trinamool Congress does not do this. Do not abuse Trinamool by supporting the wrongdoings of BSF.’
BJP has reacted sharply to these allegations of Mamata and accused Mamata Banerjee of insulting BSF. BJP leader Anirban Ganguly said, ‘Mamata Banerjee is the only leader who has criticized and abused BSF. The problem with Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee is that BSF has taken strong action against the nefarious network associated with drugs and human and cattle smuggling, who are some of the kingpins of this network. We would advise them to cooperate with BSF in view of the current situation in Bangladesh.’
After Mamata Banerjee’s allegations on BJP, Aam Aadmi Party has also accused BJP of promoting infiltration in the country. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said, ‘It seems that the BJP government at the Center is deliberately getting infiltration done from the Bangladesh border. Is the central government deliberately getting infiltration done from the Bangladesh border or is the BJP government failing to protect the border?’
AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said, ‘Either the BJP is deliberately settling infiltrators in the country or the central government has failed to secure the country’s borders…’
By the way, about ten days ago, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi had posted a picture of the order with a 2022 post about giving EWS flats to Rohingya migrants by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on X. In her post, she had said, ‘On one side there are BJP leaders, who bring Rohingyas across the border from Bangladesh to Delhi and give them EWS flats and facilities meant for Delhiites. On the other hand, there is the Aam Aadmi Party government of Delhi which is taking every possible step to ensure that Rohingyas do not get the rights of Delhiites.’
She further said, ‘Today the Education Department of the Delhi Government has passed a strict order that no Rohingya should be admitted in Delhi government schools.’ She said that we will not let the rights of the people of Delhi be taken away.
However, Puri later clarified that no Rohingya migrant was given a house in Delhi. The Home Ministry clarified its position after the post and said that the matter of their deportation has been raised with the concerned country.
Former Chief Minister and AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal also said on the post, ‘We will not allow BJP to settle Rohingya in Delhi under any circumstances. We will not allow them to give flats, employment and facilities of the poor of Delhi to Rohingya under any circumstances.’
By the way, opposition parties like TMC and AAP have started accusing BJP of infiltration now, but BJP has been accusing opposition parties for a long time. Home Minister Amit Shah had put forward NRC and CAA by making infiltration an issue. There was a lot of controversy on this. BJP leaders in Bengal especially kept making infiltration an issue. Many times they have claimed that there are about two crore Muslim infiltrators in the entire country, while there are about one crore in West Bengal.
Four years ago, when Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh had claimed that there are a total of two crore Muslim infiltrators in India, out of which one crore are in West Bengal, the BJP-led central government itself had in a way denied those figures. In response to a question asked in the Rajya Sabha in 2020, the then Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai had said that in the last three years, the number of Bangladeshis living illegally in India is about 1 lakh 10 thousand. He had said that these are such Bangladeshis who had come to India with a visa, but were living illegally in India even after the visa date had expired.
