One of the key issues that Donald Trump hammered on all through his campaign was that of illegal immigration. He blamed the Joe Biden administration for allowing migrants to come in illegally.
Not only have these migrants in America indulged in violence, they have taken away local jobs as well.
India, too, is no stranger to illegal immigration. It would not be wrong to say that the problem of illegal immigration in India has reached its pinnacle. What started as an issue which affected just West Bengal and Assam. The issue is present in several states and has trickled down to South India.
Changing demographics
The issue relating to illegal immigrants has been spoken about for long. The Ministry of Home Affairs has been driving this point out for over 6 years to states that share borders with countries such as Bangladesh or Pakistan. These illegal immigrants not only infringe upon the rights of Indian citizens but also pose a great challenge, the MHA said.
The MHA also noted that the rise of terrorism in the last few decades has become a serious concern for most nations. Illegal migrants are more vulnerable to getting recruited by terror outfits. This issue burdens the country’s limited resources and aggravates security challenges.
A systematic effort is being made to change the demographics of the country. With the help of touts and political backing, these persons are able to easily get a voter ID card and Aadhaar.
What started off as a problem in West Bengal and Assam has now trickled to South India in large proportions. The issue is of grave concern in States such as Karnataka and Kerala. They have come into these states and, with the offer of cheaper labour, have put the locals out of jobs.
An Intelligence Bureau report states that after the Assam government published the NRC, the influx into the southern states increased. Touts worked overtime in Kerala to facilitate these persons. Similar was the case in Karnataka and Telangana, where these illegal immigrants were brought in to work in plantations.
However, in Kerala, which is such a trade union-dominated state, the illegal immigrants have managed to crawl their way in. What made matters easier for them is that Kerala has, over the years, seen a large influx of people from West Bengal. They came to the southern states looking for greener pastures. Today, their population is so big that they have exclusive Bengali colonies. This came as a boon for the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and they blended with the Bengalis and began staying in these colonies. Those from Bangladesh found it easier to blend in due to similarities in language.
The migration corridor
The Central agencies had warned for some time that the migration into South India would happen through the southern state of Kerala. The migration corridor begins in Bangladesh and Myanmar and then trickles into West Bengal and Assam, following which these persons make their way into the southern states.
The illegal immigrants moved from Kerala to Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.
The population of illegal immigrants in the southern states has become so big that it has become hard to control. Making things worse is the fact that this population is challenging to detect as it is a floating one that moves from one state to another.
Kerala also became a preferred choice as the wages in the unorganised sector are higher than in the other states. The Home Ministry’s data suggests that the Kerala government had issued 62,000 registration cards to the migrant workers. Thanks to this, the illegal immigrants, too, benefited. An official in the Home Ministry tells the Organiser that while many states ignore the problem, they continue not to make any major effort to tackle this problem.
The larger picture
The left-wingers have often romanticised the cause of the migrants. They point at the atrocities and lack of these migrants and feel that they are protecting those in need. In India, too, the left has had this thinking for a long and feels that there is no harm in letting Rohingya Muslims come in from Myanmar or Bangladeshi Muslims enter India illegally from Bangladesh.
What this particular ecosystem does not realise or does not want to realise is that this is a systematic attempt being made by migrants to change the demographics of a country. They begin with one area and gradually spread to the state and the country.
In India, the share of Hindus has declined by 7.8 per cent between 1950 and 2015. On the other hand, the Muslim and Christian population grew from 9.84 per cent to 14.09 per cent, 2.24 per cent and 2.36 per cent per cent respectively, during the same period.
In 1947, the number of Muslims was around 35 million in India. Today, the population of Muslims stands at over 200 million.
A study by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) reveals that this decline in the majority population could be attributed to relative discrimination. On the other hand, the study notes that the increase in minorities could be due to an overall supportive environment for them.
