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Delhi repeals act to detect, deport illegal migrants

PALLAB BHATTACHARYA, New Delhi
The Indian cabinet Tuesday night approved a legislation to repeal the controversial Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act of 1983.
This would help the government to detect and deport illegal migrants who entered Assam after March 25, 1971, officials said.
The repeal of the IMDT Act was done on the ground of it being
discriminatory because the law was applicable only in Assam while the rest of India was covered by the Foreigners' Act to handle illegal migrants problem, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters after the cabinet meeting presided by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The IMDT Act had empowered the Indian government to expel those who were declared illegal migrants by the Tribunal set up under the act.
The cabinet decision to bring a bill for repeal of the act needs parliamentary approval and it remains to be seen how Congress, which rules Assam but is the country's main opposition party, and the Left parties react as they had in the past opposed such a measure.
The BJP and Asom Gana Parishad, which had ruled Assam for nearly a decade before being voted out of power two years ago, have been rooting for scrapping of IMDT Act contending it has 'failed to check illegal immigration from Bangladesh'.
Swaraj said Asom Gana Parishad leader and former Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta had also favoured repeal of the IMDT Act.
Opponents of the IMDT Act have pointed out that under it the onus of proving that a person was illegal immigrant rested on the complainant rather than on the person whose citizenship was in question. Under the act, ration card was proof enough to settle the domicile status of a person.
The Congress and Left parties have in the past resisted repeal of the act saying genuine citizens belonging to the minority community could be harassed in the name of checking illegal immigration.
The BJP and Congress have accused each other of politicising the illegal immigration issue for electoral gains.
What further prompted the Vajpayee government to repeal the IMDT Act was that Governor of Assam S K Sinha had recently submitted a report to the federal government pointing at the 'sharp rise in illegal influx from across the border and the consequent demographic changes taking place in Assam'.
Sinha's report is reported to have voiced concern over the demographic changes in certain districts of strategically located Assam in the context of national security.
What has also given heart to the federal Indian government's decision to scrap the act is the growing consensus among all major political parties on the 'threats emanating from illegal immigration'.
This was evident in a number of meetings the federal government had in recent months with chief ministers of states facing the problem, including West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.