Pakistan, China facilitating illegal migration to the northeast: Bipin Rawat
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has blamed India's "western neighbor" (Pakistan) and "northern neighbor" (China) for "planned" illegal migration in the northeast. He added that "development is the main issue (in the region) and identifying the (northeast) population with the population of mainland becomes important." But he maintained that the "population dynamics (in the northeast) can no longer be changed," without elaborating further.
The reasons for illegal migration to northeast, according to Rawat
"Migration from Bangladesh is due to two reasons. One, they are running out of space. Large areas get flooded during the monsoon. So people will continue coming (here)," Rawat said. He added: "The other issue is a planned immigration...Our western neighbor will always try and ensure that this area is taken over by proxy warfare. This proxy game is being...supported by our northern neighbor."
'AIUDF has grown faster than the BJP'
Talking about population dynamics, he said the AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front) in Assam, fighting for Muslim rights, has "grown in a faster time-frame than the BJP grew over the years."
'Development, amalgamation key needs of the northeast'
Rawat said the solution to the northeastern region's problems is development. "With development will come control of the people." Batting for the amalgamation of the area, he said, "We've to live with the people of the region, irrespective of their caste, creed, religion or sex. We'll have more trouble in segregating people." But it would be easy for Arunachal as "Arunachal speaks pure Hindi."
Assam racing against time to complete NRC by May
Rawat's comments come even as Assam struggles to publish the National Register of Citizens to identify illegal migrants. Two days ago, the SC refused to extend the deadline for its publication from May 31 to July 31. According to government estimates, there were 20mn illegal Bangladeshi migrants in India as of November'16. However, no details were given about which states they were in.
