- Vigilante groups in Assam's Sivasagar are detecting suspected illegal immigrants door to door
- Groups demand immediate detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi nationals
- BJP and Congress accuse each other over vigilantism ahead of Assam elections
In Assam's Sivasagar, a vigilante movement has intensified pricking the political fault lines in the state, with civil society organisations carrying out an overdrive to detect suspected illegal immigrants, a job otherwise bestowed upon the government and law enforcement agencies by the constitution.
Organisations including Jatiyo Sangrami Sena Asom, Ahom Jatiyo Ganamancha, AATASU, Sangrami Yuva Chatra Parishad, Tai Ahom Yuva Parishad, Anusuchit Jati Chatra Santha, and Jatiyo Sangrami Mahila Parishad, are part of this over drive in Sivasagar district.
They are demanding immediate detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi nationals and extended full support to the state government's ongoing eviction drives against encroachers on government land. Issuing a sharp warning, the groups declared that drives would intensify across Upper Assam this week.
The members of these vigilante groups are going door to door to verify people who are working as labourers, staying on rents to find out who among them are suspected illegal immigrants and asking them to leave the district immediately, the locals said.
Meanwhile, both the ruling BJP and the main opposition congress have started to target each other over this growing vigilantism in Upper Assam - a region which is seen as the road to power in Assam - with the elections in Assam slated to take place by April next year.
"India is a country for Indian citizens. Those who have entered illegally, without documentation and by force, cannot be allowed to stay. Congress's vote bank politics will no longer work," said BJP National Secretary Rituraj Sinha, while reiterating his party's firm stance against illegal immigration in Assam.
On the other hand, Leader of the Opposition and Congress MLA Debabrata Saikia accused the BJP of communalising the issue for political gain. He claimed that the eviction drives are targeting even indigenous people and that terms like "suspected foreigners" are being misused to harass minorities.
"In the name of evicting illegal immigrants, they are targeting poor Indian citizens from minority communities. This is nothing but a diversionary tactic to hide governance failures," Saikia said.
The Congress leader further challenged the BJP to release data on how many illegal immigrants have actually been deported over the past nine years. "Instead of real action, the government is creating a climate of fear and communal tension," he added.
