Modi seething at Bangladeshi immigrants

In yet another vitriolic remark, Narendra Modi, a leader of the BJP and prime ministerial candidate for the ongoing Indian election, has said Bangladeshis will be thrown out of India as soon as he comes to power.

Modi was speaking on Sunday at an election rally in Serampore, West Bengal, which shares a porous border with Bangladesh. “You can write it down. After May 16, these Bangladeshis better be prepared with their bags packed,” he said.

Modi targeted Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress government, and said: “You are spreading the red carpet for vote bank politics. If people come from Bihar, they are outsiders to you. If people come from Odisha, they are outsiders to you. However, if some Bangladeshi comes, your face seems to shine. This country cannot run like this. We won’t allow you to destroy the country for the sake of your vote bank politics.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday retorted that the “people of Bengal will throw him [Modi] out.”

On a day marked by a war of words between her Trinamool Congress party and the BJP leader, a furious Mamata lashed out at Modi for accusing her of welcoming Bangladeshi immigrants for votes.

“Mr Modi wants to pack off Bengalis from India. Who is he to decide?” Mamata said, adding that Bangladeshis came to India under a pact signed in 1971 by then prime minister Indira Gandhi and the first president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

“Mr Modi does not know history. He does not know that speaking in Bangla does not make one a Bangladeshi. Modi wants to divide Bengalis and non-Bengalis. Anyone who speaks in Bangla across India is branded a Bangladeshi. This is discrimination. If on Bengal’s soil he says Bangladeshis will have to pack their bags and go, people of Bengal will throw him out,” she said.

Deporting illegal Bangladeshi immigrants has always been a part of the BJP’s agenda; however, Modi’s sharp comments indicate it could move beyond rhetoric if the party comes to power after the national election.

“If the BJP came to power, it would investigate how so many people of a particular community could enter the country illegally, and settle down,” said BJP President Rajnath Singh recently in a statement.

Some reports suggest that there are about 20 million Bangladeshi immigrants in India at present, however there are no reliable figures. The BJP calls them a drain on the nation’s income and resources.

Bangladeshi immigration to India results mainly due to the communal tension that periodically rocks the country, mainly right after election-time. Even though many who cross the border in search of greener grass, ultimately fail and return while the cash and assets they had get lost in transition.

Trade with Bangladesh remains a major stimulus for the Indian economy. The growing bilateral trade deficit with India rose from $774m in 2000 to $1.9bn in 2005, and $2.9bn in 2010.

Bilateral trade also takes place through informal trade between the two countries. As a consequence, the actual deficit (formal plus informal) would be significantly higher. A survey conducted by the Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP) almost a decade ago, revealed that, on average, commodities worth Tk832.2m were smuggled every month into Bangladesh from India. Thus, for the states that neighbour Bangladesh as well as Bihar and Odisha, relationship with Bangladesh remains important, and mostly welcomed.

Modi’s remarks come days after Subramanyan Swamy, another veteran BJP leader and former cabinet minister, said one-third of Bangladesh’s land should be compensated to India for the influx of its citizens there. “If Bangladesh does not agree to take back its people, then the country should compensate by giving land to India,” Swamy said on Friday.

In February, Modi’s comments appearing to draw a distinction between Hindu and Muslim migrants had triggered a row.

He said: “We have a responsibility towards Hindus who are harassed and suffer in other countries. Where will they go? India is the only place for them. Our government cannot continue to harass them. We will have to accommodate them here.”

Modi’s party manifesto also controversially mentions that India is a natural home for persecuted Hindus, and in its vaguely defined foreign policy, it pursues “Nation first, global brotherhood.”

However, the BJP last week had restricted Pakistani access to its website, and almost 10 days ago, Giriraj Singh, a BJP leader from Bihar, told an election rally in Jharkhand: “Those who want to stop Narendra Modi from becoming prime minister will have no place in India in the coming days. They will only have place in Pakistan.”

Despite a spirited intervention by the Election Commission – when it recently banned election speeches in UP by Narendra Modi aide Amit Shah and SP strongman Azam Khan for divisive statements – hateful, intimidating and threatening poll rhetoric is showing no signs of ebbing. The BJP, and Modi, a former RSS leader, however, have been advocating “communal tolerance” as the way forward for the new India.