Bangladesh Fears Muslim Influx After Indian Citizenship Bill
POLITICS /
When the entire nation
including the northeastern states of India, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh that
border Bangladesh, is reeling under violent protests over the passage of the
Citizenship Amendment Act, in a strange turn of events, Bangladesh’s telecom
regulatory authority has ordered operators to shut down services along the
Indian border out of fear that Indian Muslims might seek to enter Bangladesh
after the act.
It may be recalled that despite
agitation by people of northeastern states of India, like Assam and Arunachal
Pradesh, and protests by Congress-led opposition parties, the Indian Parliament
passed its Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) on December 11, 2019. The
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will grant citizenship to the non-Muslims –
Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains, and Parsis – from Bangladesh,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan on the plea that they fled their parent countries on
account of religious persecution and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
The Citizen Amendment Act has
not only rattled Indian Muslims, but neighboring Muslim nations are also
apprehensive of the fallout of the CAA. Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
have expressed displeasure over the exclusion of Muslims from the act. They
said that the law is against the secular fabric of the Indian constitution, and
it is anti-Muslim, meant to deprive Muslims of Indian citizenship.
Why Are Muslim Nations Unsettled?
Their primary worry is that as
per the CAA, India is the homeland for Hindus, and for the other five
religions, it is a country that will offer them sanctuary. Hindus from
Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are charged $2.79 for overstay of more
than 91 days, and for more than two years, it is $6.97. Muslims, overstaying up
to 90 days, are charged $400, and for those overstaying for more than two
years, the cost is $500.
Whereas Ambassador of
Afghanistan to India, Tahir Qadiry publically stated that his government has been
“respecting the minorities, especially Sikh brothers and sisters”, Bangladesh
suddenly canceled two scheduled ministerial visits. Pakistan has passed a
resolution in the National Assembly, condemning the CAA as discriminatory.
Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, declared that the CAA would create fear
among Muslims in India, and they will leave in droves.
What has puzzled India is
Bangladesh telecom regulatory authority’s order to shut down services along the
Indian border. The fact is that there has always been a flow of illegal
migrants into India from Bangladesh, as India has been a safe sanctuary for
them. Most of the Bengali-speaking Hindus and Muslims who have settled in Assam
over the past decades are from Bangladesh. The infamous 1983 Nellie massacre in
Assam, following the ‘Bongali Khedao’ or ‘Drive Out the Bengalis’ agitation,
led to the killing of over 2,000 illegal Bangladeshi Muslim migrants. The
National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state of Assam contains 1.9 crore
names of unlawful migrants, mostly from Bangladesh.
Why is Bangladesh Scared?
The Citizen Amendment Act has
raised the spectre of a mass exodus of illegal Bangladeshis back to their
homeland, Bangladesh. According to political observers, instances of reverse
migration of hundreds of Bangladeshis who were arrested after the crossing of
the border into Bangladesh have sent alarm bells ringing in the political
corridors of Bangladesh. Reportedly, these people confessed that they are
‘Bangladeshi Muslims’ and have returned home because they no longer see any
hope of getting Indian citizenship after the CAA.
According to political
analysts, Bangladesh is also scared of 1983, Assam type violence due to
reverse migration on account of the CAA. The CAA can encourage the Islamists and
anti-Indian lobbies in Bangladesh to target the Hindu minority. The political
leaders fear that Islamist propagandists may paint India as anti-Muslim; this
may become a tool to target Hindus.
Reports of large detention
centers being built in Assam have unnerved Muslim migrants who see no hope of
citizenship after the CAA. Bangladesh is already finding it difficult to cope
with the 4 lakh plus Rohingya Muslims who fled from Myanmar. Bangladesh is now
concerned over the possibility of a larger influx of Bangladeshi Muslims, who
are illegal migrants in India. India has been on good terms with Bangladesh in
recent years. So now, the million-dollar question is how the Indian government
will deal with lakhs of illegal, stateless Muslim migrants at the same time
keep Bangladesh and neighboring Muslim nations happy. Bangladesh Fears Muslim Influx After Indian Citizenship Bill
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