B’deshi migrants

·         On  August 13, 2008 former Lok Sabha Speaker and NCP leader Purno A. Sangma mooted the idea of providing work permits to illegal Bangladeshi migrants who have swarmed NE states, especially Assam, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya.

·         He suggested that instead of trying to detect illegal migrants, it would be more practical to first identify all genuine Indian citizens in Assam and other infiltration-hit northeastern states and provide them with identity cards within a specific time frame.

·         “Those who couldn’t get certified as Indian citizens should be provided with visa and work permits. Ten million Indians armed with work permits are working in Middle East countries. Why can’t we give work permits to Bangladeshis,” Sangma said commenting that Zimbabwe had done it successfully to resolve its problem of migrant population.

AASU

·         On August 13, 2008 in Assam, All Assam Students’ Union resorted to a massive mass awareness campaign by holding public meetings in all district HQs to make indigenous people aware of the gravity of the problem of unabated demographic invasion from Bangladesh.

·         Leaders of the AASU, including its adviser Samujjal Bhattacharrya, president Shankar Prasad Rai, general secretary Tapan Gogoi have been explaining to people that

·         “The Government of India has not attached due importance to Supreme Court verdict of July 12, 2005 that scrapped the controversial IMDT Act, 1983, and directed the government to expedite the process of detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi migrants as per Foreigners’ Act 1946,”

·         The AASU has demanded immediate sealing of the porous India-Bangladesh border, upgradation of national register of citizens (NRC) till March, 1971, to facilitate easy detection of illegal Bangladeshi migrants.