Not getting support in Bengal to stop infiltration, says Shah
Infiltration in Assam has come down significantly, says home minister
Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that his government was not getting much support in West Bengal to check infiltration through the International Border unlike Assam where the BJP-led alliance government was standing like a rock with the Central government to stop infiltration.
Asserting that infiltration in Assam has come down significantly Mr Shah, while addressing a large public meeting to mark the completion of one year of the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government, said that the ongoing fencing work on the remaining patch of International Border would seal the border completely soon.
Equating the situation in
Assam with neighboring West Bengal, Mr Shah said, “I have been watching both the states. We are trying to stop infiltration both in Bengal and in Assam. But in Bengal we don’t get much support but Assam has stood like a rock with the Central government in checking infiltration.”
West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya and Mizoram share the 4,156-km-long IndiaBangladesh border. The issue of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh has figured prominently in every
the
election in Assam and BJP also promised in its election manifestos to stop infiltration.
Mr Shah said that the Centre and Assam were taking steps to stop infiltration as promised in the election manifestos. “I visited the border areas yesterday and all statistics have suggested that there is a significant reduction in infiltration. We hope that infiltration will be completely stopped once the work to bridge the remaining patches of the border is complete,” he said. Mr Shah on Monday visited a border outpost of the BSF at Mankachar in Western Assam sharing a border with Bangladesh. He reviewed the measures being taken to protect the border.
The home minister also visited the IndiaBangladesh border areas in Bengal recently.