Guatemala City: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday that the ongoing unrest in neighbouring Bangladesh has increased the influx of Muslims into India through the borders of Assam and other northeastern states.
Reporting that all the infiltrators intercepted so far are Muslims, Mr Sarma told reporters that nearly 50 such Muslim migrants have been arrested or expelled from Assam since the riots began.
He said that as many in Assam feared, Hindus are not coming in the wake of the ongoing riots.
Noting that they have deployed more police personnel at railway stations and other places in Karimganj to detect such illegal immigrants, Mr Sarma said, “Most of those who were arrested or expelled had been working in textile industries and fled when the industries stopped operations. Most of them were heading to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to work in textile industries. I will soon write a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin with a request to check the antecedents of those who have recently joined the textile industries in his state.”
He also said that three such migrants were turned back from Karimganj in southern Assam around 5 am on Wednesday.
Mr. Sarma said the BSF has also stepped up the drive and vigilance against this influx in Tripura and Meghalaya and announced that his government will soon release a white paper highlighting the demographic changes that have taken place due to illegal migration of Muslims to Assam from neighbouring Bangladesh. “Out of 28,000 polling stations, demographic changes have taken place in 19,000,” he said.
Mr Sarma also announced that the state government has successfully intervened to facilitate the issuance of Aadhaar cards to 9.35 lakh residents whose applications had been stalled for over four years.
“The UIDAI had blocked the issuance of Aadhaar cards to these people when they provided their biometric data between February 2019 and August 2019,” Sarma said. He explained that despite strenuous efforts, the state was unable to establish a clear link between the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Aadhaar, leading to the impasse.
However, on 29 July 2024, the Assam government formally requested the central government to resolve the matter and allow the issuance of Aadhaar cards. Following its appeal, the Centre on 27 August 2024 directed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to proceed with the issuance of Aadhaar cards to such persons.