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Bangladeshi immigrants in Jaipur under the scanner
Published on Sat, May 17, 2008 at 01:35, Updated on Sat, May 17, 2008 at 02:43 in Nation section
Tags: Jaipur Blasts, Walled City , Jaipur
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Jaipur/New Delhi: Life in Bagrana Bengali Basti hasn't been normal for two days. After the serial blasts in Jaipur, the police have been camping there, verifying the identities of the Bangladeshi migrants and questioning them.
Forty-five-year-old rag-picker, Akai Mohammad, came to Jaipur from Natore district in Bangladesh 22 years ago. He lives in a shack allotted by Jaipur Development. Many others also have voter ID cards, driving licenses and ration cards.
Akai however, is unfazed by the turn of events.
"They have been examining our records and questioning us, but the police station has my identification. I have nothing to fear," says he.
The thought of going back has not even crossed their mind.
Estimates are that about 50,000 illegal migrants from Bangladesh have made Jaipur their home over the past few years. Many live in transit camps, while many others live within the city itself.
What the migrants do not know yet is with HuJI emerging as the main suspect, the Rajasthan government has begun its crackdown on the illegal Bangladeshi migrants. It has issued orders to identify and deport all illegal migrants within 30 days.
Rajasthan's PWD Minister, Rajendra Singh Rathore says, "All district authorities as well as the police have been informed that the Bangladeshis living in their districts should be verified within 30 days."
Not just the police, even locals have become suspicious about the migrant Bangladeshi workforce.
A shopowner in Jaipur, Kewal Ram says, "We'll have to be careful before hiring Bangladeshis from now on. We will think twice."
"The infiltration of the western border conprises terrorists while that on the eastern border comprises economic migrants. We certainly need stricter laws for deportation, because just pushing out migrants on the eastern border is not the right way to fight infiltration. One has to have easier methods to deport them. In India deportation is a long drawn process" |
For now, even though the likes of Akai Mohammad are unperturbed, their fate hangs in balance.
(With inputs from Prarthna Gahilote in New Delhi)
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