BJP TODAY

September 16--30, 2005 - Vol. 14, No. 18

The Supreme Court recently gave a historic judgement declaring the " Illegal Migrant Tribunal Act" known as IMDT Act as unconstitutional being ultra vires of the provisions of Article 14 and 355 of the Constitution of India and against the basic spirit of the Constitution. The said Act was introduced in 1983 by the Congress Government with an avowed object of detecting and deporting Bangla Deshi Infiltrators from the State of Assam. The said Act was only applicable to the State of Assam. In fact, foreigners Act'1946 and Expulsion of Foreign Immigrants Act of 1950 was already in existence and there was no necessity to have the IMDT Act. The procedure prescribed under the foreigners act and expulsion of foreign Immigrants act,1950 was sufficient to detect and deport the foreign nationals and particularly the Bangla Deshies infiltrators from the State of Assam. It is a well known fact that millions of Bangla Deshi's have crossed the border and have entered into the State of Assam and in other states like West Bengal and Bihar illegally. The present situation in Assam and in parts of Bengal and Bihar is alarming in nature. There is a threat to the integrity of India. The IMDT Act instead of solving the problem had aggrevated the situation. Challenge to the constitutional validity of the IMDT Act was mainly on the grounds of discrimination. and protecting the State against the external aggression and internal disturbances. The Honourable Supreme Court has taken into consideration this important aspect while declaring the Act as ultra vires. While discussing the provision of Article 14 the Court has come to a conclusion that the act puts foreigners and particularly Bangla Deshies illegally entered into Assam on a better footing than other foreigners illegally entered into rest of India. Under the foreigners Act, the burden of proof is on the person who has been alleged to have stayed in India illegally while the burden of proof has been shifted on the complainant under the IMDT Act and the Court for valid reasons found that expulsion of Bangla Deshies from Assam is in slow process due to the IMDT Act and the procedures and rules under the said act. The court has also taken serious note of the fact that the existence of Bangla Deshies is a threat to India's security since the Bangla Deshies in Assam is a fertile base for an ISI and such related anti- national activities. The Court has specifically taken a view that the influx of Bangla Deshi migrants is regular into Assam with ulterior motive. The Court has further also taken a view that the presence of these illegal migrants has changed demographic character of the North Eastern region and local people of Assam have been reduced to minority in certain districts. In fact in the said judgement, Court has taken a note of the historical background of such illegal migration of Bangla Deshies into Assam. The reference has been made to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's book and also that of the book written by Shaikh Mujibur Rehman. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in his book 'Myths of Independence' wrote "it would be wrong that Kashmir is the only dispute that divides India and Pakistan the other most significant one atleast is that of Assam and some districts of India adjacent to East Pakistan, to this Pakistan has very good claims".

While a person like Shaikh Mujibur Rehman in his book "East Pakistan— its population and economics" observed "because East Pakistan must have sufficient land for its expansion and because Assam has even abundant forests and mineral resources and coal, petroleum etc, East Pakistan must include Assam to be financially and economically strong". The above two references abundantly make it clear that the demographic invasion by the Bangla Deshies in Assam is with a specific intention and with specific goal in mind. The Honourable Supreme Court has also referred to the comparative figures of the growth of population of Muslims and Hindus in the State of Assam and in the rest of India. The growth rate of Muslim population in Assam in all the census report is invariably a high rate of growth which clearly indicates that large scale infiltration has taken place in the State of Assam. The Honourable Supreme Court has also taken into account the report of Governor General Mr. S.K. Sinha and that of Law Commission while delivering the judgement. The Court has also taken into consideration the Pakistans ISI activities in Bangla Desh in supporting militant movements in Assam. It is for the first time in the history of the Supreme Court that the Court has taken into consideration not only the legal propositions but also the general perceptions about the internal as well as external security of the country. The judgement will go a long way. The Court has directed to abolish all the tribunals set up under the IMDT Act and have directed the State Government to convert the Tribunals under the Foreigners Act.

Considering the judgement as a whole, the general perception about the existence of Bangla Deshies infiltration in Assam by the people of the country has been accepted by the Honourable Supreme Court. In fact, the Bhartiya Janata Party and the earlier Janasangh had all along been taking up the issue of Bangla Deshi infiltration into Assam by referring to Pakistan and now Bangla Desh's designs behind such large scale infiltration. The Janasangh in 1967 had infact contested the Lok Sabha election in Assam against Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed on the issue of such infiltration. The BJP's stand is no less different than that of earlier Janasangh stand. When the BJP was in the NDA Government at the Centre, the BJP approached the problem in two ways. Once the then Central Government filed an affidavit in the Court supporting the petitions and on the other hand introduced the bill in the Parliament of repealing/scrapping IMDT Act. Unfortunately, the house decided to refer the said Act to the parliamentary Standing Committee of Home Ministry whose Chairman was Mr. Pranav Mukherjee of the Congress. The Congress always looked at it as Muslims' problem and for their vote bank politics opposed repealing of the IMDT Act. The Chairman of the standing committee Mr. Pranav Mukherjee saw to this that the Act is not repealed. BJP also mobilized public opinion on the issue what the Government at the Centre could not do, the highest Court of the country has done it. The court declared the IMDT Act as unconstitutional not only on the legal grounds but also taking into consideration various other aspects such as the threat to internal security of India. The Court has done its job. The unfortunate part is Central Government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh has set up a sub-committee of Cabinet to study the Supreme Court judgement. The real danger lies in this. The people of Assam and the whole nation has to remain vigilant on this aspect.

The Congress is busy with its vote bank politics. They want votes and Congress will not bother to detect and delete the foreigners from the voter's list and as such nationalist parties and the people at large who have no vested interest must rise to the occasion and see to it that illegal migrants are deported out of Assam and for that purpose, the public opinion is required to be mobilized. As I referred earlier, Pakistan is keen to create a Kashmir like situation in Assam and their intention is clearly stated by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan in his above referenced book. And that is why, the people of Assam and the nation must remain vigilant and see to it that the names of the foreigners are removed from the voters list of Assam. All must work towards this goal, otherwise, India's security is at jeopardy.

(Auhtor is a lawyer & Member of the National Executive Committee of BJP)