In response to the editorial, "The Communal Crisis"

I Mallikarjuna Sharma

In response to the editorial, "The Communal Crisis," I would like to say that though the immigration of thousands or lakhs of people from East Bengal (Bangladesh) to India (Assam region, also to W. Bengal) is ostensibly an 'economically motivated' migration, it cannot just be confined to that. The influx of large number of Muslims from East Bengal to Assam in particular and also to West Bengal to considerable extent, changes the demographica pattern of the different communities in those states and generates untold friction between the communities. More so, because self-interested politicians and others want to use them as a vote bank and also communal supporters and do all in their power to quickly 'naturalize' them by issuing false residence certificates, ration cards and even voter identity cards, etc. That way Bangladesh can easily send another 2 crore Muslims into both provinces and that would virtually end in making Assam and West Bengal both Muslim majority areas and in the due course strengthen the demand for resurrection of East Pakistan in an amplified form so to mean, Sonar Muslim Bangla! It is pertinent to note that Muslim League under Jinnah wanted to make the entire Bengal, Assam and North East as East Pakistan which was only thwarted by the stubborn opposition of the Congress leaders including Gandhi and also the Hindu masses of Bengal and Assam. Now the same will be rather easily achieved due to the nefarious self-interested corrupt politicians of the day mouthing secularism fluently to hide their profiteering schemes and power-crazy politics. So, I suggest that all the immigrants from East Bengal, especially from 1990s onwards, be identified and declared stateless citizens and refugees with work permits only with no citizenship rights at all. Gradually as many as possible should be deported and only those who face or faced harassment or oppression on communal or political grounds in Bangladesh should be naturalized and others relegated to the care and maintenance of UN Commission for Refugees to unburden our state exchequers. –
I. Mallikarjuna Sharma, Advocate and Editor, Law Animated World.

May 26 2014

I. Mallikarjuna Sharma may be contacted at mksharma55@gmail.com