Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has criticised India’s “poor visa tracking-system”, saying it gives foreigners, especially Bangladeshis, the scope to stay on illegally.
Published : 15 Dec 2014, 07:50 PM
Their objective is to obtain an Indian identity, he claims.
Jihadi groups were also taking advantage of the lacuna, Gogoi told reporters Saturday.
He claimed several leaders of the banned Jammat-ul Mujhadeen Bangladesh (JMB) had tried to spread ultra-radical Wahhabi Sunni Islam ideologies in his state.
Burdwan blast accused Sahanur Alom alias Doctor has reportedly admitted to the JMB forcing locals in Assam’s Nalbarhi to offer Wahhabi Namaz, a day before the Eid prayers.
This apparently irked some of the locals, who drove them away in some places.
Alam is also said to have given important information about the JMB’s network in Assam and West Bengal during interrogation.
According to Chief Minister Gogoi, many Bangladeshi nationals were staying illegally in India, including in Assam, due to poor visa-tracking.
However, he was unable to provide the exact numbers of such ‘illegal migrants’.
Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had also spoken on the issue in the Lok Sabha recently.
According to Delhi, 16,530 Bangladeshi nationals had not returned after entering India with valid visas until December 2012.
Gogoi said the indigenous Muslims of the state were against the Jihadi elements.
He accused JMB radicals of trying to spread ‘Wahhabi practices’, which are in vogue among Islamists in Saudi Arabia.
Muslims of the state have spurned their attempts, said the chief minister.
About the alleged conversion of 300 Muslims to Hinduism in Agra, Gogoi said senior BJP leaders such as Subramanian Swamy had been promising all facilities to such converts.
Many BJP leaders were also frequently making similar remarks, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi was yet to take action against them, he said.
He said the BJP was now pushing the Hindutva agenda, side-stepping the main problems confronting the country.
BJP leaders were espousing the ideology of Nathu Ram Godse, the man who killed Mahatma Gandhi, Gogoi claimed.
According to media reports, those ‘converted’ were allegedly Bangladeshis, who were enticed with the benefits of the Below Poverty Card (BPL) scheme and other government facilities.
Meanwhile, Assam Police DGP Khagen Sarmah said another five wanted JMB activists still at large in the state.