NORTH EAST
|
ACCESS NORTH EAST |
| Major Events Vol. 3 Issue No. 31 | July 16-31, 2007 |
159 aliens deported from Arunachal Forty one more persons, mostly Bangladeshis, living in and around Itanagar without the mandatory permit, were deported out of Arunachal Pradesh. This was part of a drive against violators of the Bengal Frontier Regulation Act, 1873 and not against any particular community, the State Government claimed. Under the Act, all non-locals, Indians or otherwise, need the Inner Line Permit (ILP) to stay in the tribal State. The 41 were deported while 118 were made to leave the State recently. Meanwhile, Papum Pare Deputy Commissioner Bidal Tayeng in a letter to his North Lakhimpur counterpart in Assam said since these people had entered the State from Assam without ILP or any other documents and could neither speak Assamese or Hindi properly, the administration suspected them to be of Bangladeshi origin and were deported. In another letter, Tayeng requested North Lakhimpur DC and SP to ensure that people and vehicles coming from various districts of Arunachal Pradesh to Itanagar via North Lakhimpur were not harmed or damaged by miscreants. The ongoing drive against the violators of ILP who had entered the State capital in search mainly of manual work was conducted in pursuance of the July three executive order promulgated by the Papum Pare district Deputy Commissioner. The DC held a meeting with All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) on July 10 and urged them to strictly follow constitutional and peaceful means for its drive against illegal migrants. Supporting the AAPSU in their operation, a government spokesman said care should be taken so that no genuine Indians were harassed. Meanwhile, a 12-hour Lakhimpur district bandh called by the BJP and supported by the Bajrang Dal in protest of the alleged indifference of the district administration to the large-scale entry of suspected Bangladeshi nationals from Arunachal Pradesh evoked total response. Shops and business establishments remained shut during the period with no sign of movement of any vehicular traffic on the roads. Attendance at the governmental offices and courts were very thin, with almost zero attendance in the colleges. Banks and other financial institution also remained closed during the bandh. Heavy rain also contributed to the success of the bandh as most of the people remained indoors during the period.Earlier, the BJP rejected the request made by the district authorities and delegates of all political parties and organisations to call off their bandh. The request was made at an emergent all-party meeting convened by Superintendent of Police, Lakhimpur, Sri Nawab F Haque. The BJP alleged that the district administration remained indifferent to this large-scale entry of foreign nationals from the neighbouring state. However, contrary to the BJP’s claim, the North Lakhimpur Police set up checkpoints on the Banderdewa gate of the Arunachal-Assam border to verify the identities of those people coming from the neighbouring state in great numbers. During the check, it was found that most of the people were from Bangalmara, Laluk, Nowboicha, Harmutty areas of Lakhimpur district who had gone to Arunachal Pradesh as labourers and for other manual works and small-scale business. But they returned fearing attacks by tribal groups as their student unions had told the foreigners to leave by July 15. Most of these people had valid addresses of their homes in Lakhimpur, who left Arunachal mostly due to non-possession of the inner line permits. So far, the Lakhimpur police allowed in four thousand such people from Arunachal after finding valid documents. However, 26 people have been detained till yesterday at Banderdewa as they failed to produce any proof of identity or residence. The police meanwhile arrested 17 BJP activists who demonstrated at the checkpoint and blocked all the vehicles coming from Arunachal Pradesh. However they were released on bail in the evening. The Govt sources in Itanagar said that they were pushing back only the persons with no Inner Line Permit, not any foreign nationals. |
Your Visit No
Since April 20, 2000