Modi threatens to deport Bangladeshis

"These Bangladeshis better be prepared with their bags packed," says Modi.

Dhaka:  In yet another vitriolic remark, Narendra Modi, a leader of the BJP and prime ministerial candidate for the ongoing Indian election, has said Bangladeshis will be thrown out of India as soon as he comes to power.

Modi was speaking on Sunday at an election rally in Serampore, West Bengal, which shares a porous border with Bangladesh. “You can write it down. After May 16, these Bangladeshis better be prepared with their bags packed,” he said.

Modi targeted Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress government, and said: “You are spreading the red carpet for vote bank politics. If people come from Bihar, they are outsiders to you. If people come from Odisha, they are outsiders to you. However, if some Bangladeshi comes, your face seems to shine. This country cannot run like this. We won’t allow you to destroy the country for the sake of your vote bank politics.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday retorted that the “people of Bengal will throw him [Modi] out.”

On a day marked by a war of words between her Trinamool Congress party and the BJP leader, a furious Mamata lashed out at Modi for accusing her of welcoming Bangladeshi immigrants for votes.

“Mr Modi wants to pack off Bengalis from India. Who is he to decide?” Mamata said, adding that Bangladeshis came to India under a pact signed in 1971 by then prime minister Indira Gandhi and the first president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

“Mr Modi does not know history. He does not know that speaking in Bangla does not make one a Bangladeshi. Modi wants to divide Bengalis and non-Bengalis. Anyone who speaks in Bangla across India is branded a Bangladeshi. This is discrimination. If on Bengal’s soil he says Bangladeshis will have to pack their bags and go, people of Bengal will throw him out,” she said.

Deporting illegal Bangladeshi immigrants has always been a part of the BJP’s agenda; however, Modi’s sharp comments indicate it could move beyond rhetoric if the party comes to power after the national election.

“If the BJP came to power, it would investigate how so many people of a particular community could enter the country illegally, and settle down,” said BJP President Rajnath Singh recently in a statement.

Some reports suggest that there are about 20 million Bangladeshi immigrants in India at present, however there are no reliable figures. The BJP calls them a drain on the nation’s income and resources.

Bangladeshi immigration to India results mainly due to the communal tension that periodically rocks the country, mainly right after election-time. Even though many who cross the border in search of greener grass, ultimately fail and return while the cash and assets they had get lost in transition.

Source: Dhaka Tribune