BHUBANESWAR: Amid raging debate over the final draft of Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Bharat Raksha Manch on Friday urged the State Government to implement a similar move to detect and deport Bangladeshi infiltrators from Odisha. Addressing the media here, national secretary of the Manch Anil Dhir said the outfit has written to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in this regard. “As the Government in 2015 admitted the presence of Bangladeshi infiltrators in the State, we have urged the Chief Minister to approach the Registrar General of India to initiate the process of identifying and deporting the Bangladeshi infiltrators,” he said.
Dhir further said replying to a question from Rourkela MLA Dilip Ray in 2015, the Chief Minster had informed the Assembly that there were 3,987 infiltrators in the State and all of them were from Bangladesh. However, the figure available with the State Government is much less than the actual number of infiltrators residing in Odisha.
“If NRC is implemented, around 20 lakh Bangladeshi infiltrators will be detected in Odisha. Among them, 50,000 will be found in the State Capital alone,” Dhir said. Convener of the Manch Murali Manohar Sharma said with a 480-km coastline, Odisha is the most vulnerable to the menace of illegal immigration. “Odisha’s marine security needs to be strengthened to check this menace,” he said.
“Though 10 marine police stations are operating in the State, not a single case of infiltration has been reported till date,” Sharma said. Apart from strengthening the marine security, the Government should issue biometric cards to all fishermen, he said and added that only one lakh fishermen have been issued such cards.
Sharma said the Government needs to stay alert to ensure that those left out of Assam NRC do not infiltrate into Odisha. “States like Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Meghalaya have already sounded alert along their borders,” he said. These infiltrators have easy access to voter I-card, pan card and other services which needs to be checked. The NRC is being implemented on the orders of the Supreme Court and it is a transparent way to detect infiltrators and take steps for their deportation, leaders of the Manch added.