NEWS reports in Indian and Bangladeshi media said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in electioneering campaign in the eastern state of Assam over the past few days that if his party BJP goes to power in the State election scheduled for early April, they will deport all ‘illegal immigrants’ from Bangladesh. Earlier during the Lok Shabha election in 2014, Mr Modi then the Prime Minister candidate made similar rhetoric exploiting the sensitive communal card to polarize Indian voters to vote for BJP against Congress. In the state of Assam, Congress is in power for the last 15 years and BJP as an ultra-nationalist party is impatient to oust it and capture the state.
This is essentially an election fight between the two major parties – one is vying to continue in power and the other is bent upon winning the state. But what is quite frightening in this case is BJP’s targeting of the immigrants, what is synonymous of Muslim population of Assam, to isolate them from mainstream state politics. This is a dangerous game that may cause communal tension and even violence during the elections.
It is true that a big segment of the Muslim population of Assam is Bangalee origin but they are invariably local people with their roots to the soil. There are some others who settled in the State under the British rule. But they can’t be treated as illegal migrants, because they are living there over generations and also being registered as voters. It appears that BJP does not hesitate to use the sensitive issue from a communal point of view to create a nationalistic urge to the election but the risk of such politics to breaking peace and communal harmony is always enormous.
Minorities in any country can become vulnerable to violence and existential threats if political leaders don’t care to ensure peace and harmony among different communities. But when the Indian Prime Minister speaks of divisive politics the safety of the minorities become threatened. The Gujarat riot of 2002 is an example in hand. But what appears noteworthy is that despite BJP’s election pledge of expulsion of Bangalee people from Indian states on the border during the last Lok Shabha election, the post-election activities showed no sign of such expulsion so far. But such rhetoric always pollutes the environment and contributes to creating mistrust, which may be productive to local Indian politics but not at all friendly to the people of Bangladesh.
The present Awami League government in Bangladesh is having a very close political relation with India and making many strategic concessions to Delhi as one way traffic. But when the Indian government leaders and specially its Prime Minister make highly critical communal comments targeting Bangladeshis that makes the Bangalees more vulnerable.
It is true that some Bangladeshis are working in India and they are working hard and contributing to the Indian economy. Similarly about half a million Indians are reputedly working in Bangladesh. We need to create a conflict-free situation that does not hurt our pride and sense of friendship.
