HM Shah urged not to give shelter to any Bangladeshi national in Northeast

Shillong: The influential North East Students' Organisation (NESO) -- an apex body of eight students' bodies representing seven NE states -- on Thursday urged Home Minister Amit Shah to not provide shelter to any individual from the trouble-torn neighbouring nation of Bangladesh in India's northeastern region.

NESO Chairman Samuel Jyrwa and Secretary General Mutsikhoyo Yhobu in a letter to HM Amit Shah said that "the unabated flow of immigrants into the northeastern region earlier caused insecurity, agitations, riots and clashes between foreigners and the indigenous people of the region".

Seeking HM Shah's immediate intervention to ensure no migrants are allowed to enter the northeastern states from Bangladesh, the NESO leaders requested the Home Minister to take steps so that "not even a single Bangladeshi is granted asylum in the entire region".

"At this juncture, it is also imperative for the Central government to ensure that the border between northeast India and Bangladesh should be thoroughly and strictly manned to detect attempted illegal migration from across the border," the NESO told the Home Minister.

It said that the prevailing situation in Bangladesh can have serious ramifications in India, especially in the northeastern region where four states – Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram -- share a vast boundary with Bangladesh.

The NESO leaders submitted that the ongoing crisis in Bangladesh may lead to an exodus of its nationals into India, especially in the northeast region and past events indicate that whenever there is a civil war or a riot in Bangladesh, the region always had to bear the brunt of mass illegal immigration from the country.

"The northeastern region is home to a plethora of indigenous communities which are microscopic in numbers and live among their own communities in traditionally marked territories. The arrival of millions of illegal foreigners from other countries led to a contestation of space, forced cultural assimilation, economic competition and distrust between the indigenous populace and the foreigners,” the NESO letter mentioned.