Failing a Holy Duty

As we reported yesterday, some foreigners tribunals in Assam have gone erroneous in the matter of detection of illegal immigrants. The Gauhati High Court has already pulled them up. The issue’s gravity stems from the fact that this is happening in a State that has borne the worst brunt of illegal immigration from Bangladesh, with the illegal immigrants having already become kingmakers in many districts. An unbiased survey of districts such as Dhubri, Barpeta and Nagaon will tell one the story. And why, even our prized xatra lands have been encroached upon. The crux of the matter is that when the tribunals in question, whose holy duty it is to ensure that there is no room for any error in a matter as serious as the fact of unbridled illegal immigration from Bangladesh, fail their fundamental purpose, heads must start rolling because it is a matter of securing the very existence of an indigenous people – the sons of the soil of Assam who are rapidly being outnumbered by aliens in their own land of birth. And add to all this a piece of law in the form of a draft called the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 that is set to trigger further the outnumbering the sons of the soil here. The point is simple: Assam cannot afford to have any foreigners tribunal failing in its duty towards securing the identity and existence of the indigenous people of the State. This is all the more paramount given the reality that our elected representatives have already failed in their duties to come to the rescue of those endangered sons of the soil. And yes, when it comes to these indigenous people, they must remain Priority Number One insofar as their security in their own land of birth goes.