SHILLONG: The illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Delhi have stirred intense political and administrative action ahead of the elections.
This controversy is coupled with allegations over alterations in the voter list on illegal activities and has brought forth a targeted crackdown on human trafficking and illegal immigration networks.
The Delhi election office has recorded as many as nearly 4.80 lakh names added to voter rolls and names of 82,000 deleted during the process, as Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has ordered a mass revision of voters' list given the elections being scheduled.
This move has further fueled the tensions between political parties. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is trying to bring illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants into the voter roll as a vote-bank policy. AAP, on the other hand, countered this by stating that the BJP was planning mass deletions of names from the electoral rolls as a strategy to disenfranchise voters.
Simultaneously, the Delhi Police has heightened its activities of curbing illegal immigration and human trafficking. A trafficking racket busting has already been done linked to the Bangladeshi woman murder case in Delhi where it was reported that the lady was a part of a more extensive network trading Bangladeshi women for India.
Authorities arrested Animul Islam, a key suspect, who allegedly transported women from the Meghalaya-Assam border to metropolitan cities like Delhi and Kolkata. Victims often crossed the jungle border from Bangladesh into Meghalaya on foot, guided by handlers who then transported them through Assam by train.
Police also found out that "donkey routes" are normally used by the traffickers when smuggling people over porous borders. Such routes point out how border management leaves loopholes, which calls for stricter control at the borders.
During an ongoing two-month crackdown, Delhi Police conducted extensive verification drives across unauthorized colonies, slums, and public areas, checking documents of over 16,645 individuals. Of these, 46 were identified as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Several others are investigated for failing to produce valid proof of Indian citizenship.
In one instance, a mother and son living in Delhi since 2005 were deported to Bangladesh after they admitted to their illegal status. Another was a construction worker arrested on narcotics possession charges, whom immigration authorities say will stay in custody due to the criminal charges.
Northeast India has indeed been an epicenter for human trafficking because of economic instability, climate-related migration, and social conflicts for ages. According to reports, annually, about 50,000 Bangladeshi women and children are trafficked into India, mostly to the cities, where many are pushed into exploitative conditions.
The crackdown by Delhi Police underlines the complex nexus of illegal immigration, trafficking, and political controversy in the region. As Delhi prepares for elections, the focus on securing voter rolls and addressing illegal immigration highlights the broader challenges of governance and security in an interconnected landscape.
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