SC appointed Upamanyu Hazarika Commission submitted report on illegal migrants from Bangladesh

In Uncategorized
October 28, 2015

A one man commission headed by Senior Advocate Upamanyu Hazarika on October 5 submitted its report on illegal migrants from Bangladesh to Assam. The commission was appointed by the Supreme Court in May 2015, to visit the India-Bangladesh border running through the State of Assam. The petition was filed by the Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha against issues concerning illegal migration, border fencing, construction of border roads, etc.

The Court has directed both the Union Government of India and Assam governments to respond to the recommendations within four weeks for hearing on November 5.

In the report the commissions suggestions:-

The migrants might pose a big threat to the state’s indigenous population reducing it to a minority by the year 2047.
A ‘Sterile Zone’ should be created by demarcating/identifying a particular stretch from the international boundary in the riverine area and provision of identity cards to villagers there, but a policy decision from the Central and state government is awaited.
The statutory restrictions on transfer of land to non-tribals in existing tribal belts in Assam now be extended to non-tribal areas as well to stave off illegal migrants from acquiring land, the report suggested.
Though the primary reason for illegal migration is hunger for land, there should be a restriction in the transfer of land – whether by way of sale, purchase, gift or any other such transaction, or by way of allotment from the government or any other agency only to those who have been citizens of India in the year 1951 and their descendants.
The foreigners acquired land through all means, the favourite mode being to pose as flood and erosion affected persons from other districts with the aid and assistance of a complicit and corrupt administration.
The arrival of people over the years has created a huge immigration population which competes for jobs, in government institutions with Indian citizens, without verification of the antecedents of such non-Indians.

So the Commission noted and suggested that the same benchmark for transfer of land be adopted to be an effective deterrent for any illegal migrant and protection of indigenous inhabitants.