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Assam alone cannot stop infiltration, says Tarun Gogoi

Gogoi has said that a concerted effort by states sharing border with Bangladesh is imperative to stop illegal immigration from the neighbouring country.

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Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has said that a concerted effort by states sharing border with Bangladesh is imperative to stop illegal immigration from the neighbouring country.

“We have fenced 97% of the (targeted India-Bangladesh) border in Assam. This is the highest among states sharing border with Bangladesh. However, our effort alone cannot help solve the problem,” he told journalists here on Tuesday without saying that infiltration could also take place through West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya, which share border with Bangladesh.

According to Gogoi, West Bengal has fenced 80% of the targeted area, Mizoram 59%, Tripura 85% and Meghalaya 81%.
He further said that concrete steps, and not agitations, could help solve the problem of infiltration. “These days, the AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) and the BJP are launching agitations demanding detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi migrants. However, only concrete steps, and not agitations, can stop infiltration,” he said.

He then took a dig at former chief minister and AGP chief PK Mahanta saying “We’ll also launch an anti-foreigners’ agitation”.

“It’s not that we endorse infiltration. We also want the deportation of foreigners who came to Assam after 1971 (as agreed upon in the Assam Accord signed between All Assam Students’ Union and central government),” he said.

“Let Mahanta and the BJP come out with facts and figures about measures taken by them when they were in power and compare them with the steps that we have initiated,” Gogoi said.

He quipped, “Mahanta is vocal on the issue when he is not in power. Going by his behaviour, should we perceive that illegal migrants disappear from Assam when Mahanta dons the mantle of chief minister?”

He lambasted the BJP for its alleged double standards saying it was the saffron party that once favoured giving work permits to Bangladeshi migrants.

According to official estimates, over 46,000 illegal Bangladeshi migrants have been missing in Assam ever since the signing of Assam Accord. Gogoi said the names of these people had been deleted from the voters’ list.

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