First the Rohingyas, now the Muslims in Assam

Foreign ministry's reticence baffling

We consider it a matter of grave concern that four million people in Assam have been de-registered, mostly Bengali Muslims, who have become foreigners in their own land. We are equally confounded by this move particularly at a time when Indo-Bangladesh relations is at its peak!

We would not be remiss to suggest that this is an anti-Muslim move, an example of blatant communal politics at its extreme. Bangladesh abhors such politics and feels that such a development may have its own fall-out in Bangladesh. Given the purpose behind the move, which is to identify so-called illegal migrants, one would not be misled to think that this is an attempt to create a vote bank for the ruling BJP. One does not know what to make of the statement of the Assam CM that nobody will be treated as a foreigner if his/her name is not in the list. If that be so, what is the purpose of such a list in the first place?

In this regard, we are highly curious about the stance of our foreign ministry, whose silence on what is happening across the border is extremely baffling. The argument is that it is an internal matter of India, with which we beg to differ. How can it be so when the purpose of the exercise is to identify so-called illegal migrants from Bangladesh? It would seem that we are reacting in the same inert manner as we did three decades ago when Bangladesh remained mum while the Myanmar strongman General Ne Win was disenfranchising the Rohingyas. Today, we are facing the brunt of the Rohingyas made stateless, and Bangladesh now hosts 1.1 million refugees.

Given the gravity of the situation, our government must raise the issue with Delhi at the highest level. It's a question of national security and we cannot look at this situation merely as an internal matter of India, especially when there is every chance of a mass deportation of such a massive number of people into our country.

• Courtesy: The Daily Star/ Editorial /Aug 01, 2018