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Commentary

Dixit interview reveals many flaws in New Delhi's push-out drive

By S M Ali
In his detailed press interview on New- Delhi's drive against the so-called illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Indian Foreign Secretary J N Dixit reveals several flaws in his government's policy in a sensitive area,-a policy that has been clumsily Implemented, without showing enough consideration for its long-term consequences in Its bilateral tics with Dhaka.
One positive element that emerges from the interview, the first ever on the subject given to a Bangladesh newspaper by a high-ranking Indian official, is the indication that the drive would remain suspended until the two governments held detailed discussion on the subject. Unfortunately, Dixit was not categorical in this assurance, perhaps be-
cause he could not speak for his country's Home Ministry which has played the pivotal role in this unfortunate development in Delhi-Dhaka relations.
What is far from clear is what prompted the Indian authorities to suspend the operation. Was it due to the strong resolution against the "push-out" drive adopted by the Jatiya Sangsad, the criticism of the move from a section of public opinion within India and the Calcutta media or the realisation within the administration in' New Delhi that the exercise had done great damage to the bilateral relations between Dhaka and New Delhi at a particularly wrong time. Just on the eve of the SAARC Summit?
If we can only guess what
goes on within the administration in New Delhi, the Indian authorities have been doing their own guessing game as to the number of the so-called illegal Immigrants from Bangladesh who have entered or settled In various parts of the country since 1973.
According to the Indian Foreign Secretary, the figure varies between eight to nine and a half million! Asked about the system of verification, he virtually admitted that ft was hardly a rational one. As Dixit puts it, "at the sub-district level or In villages, people know the newcomers and they also know where they come from." ,
About the reliability of such information, especially when it comes to formulating an offl-
dal policy, the less said the better.
Isn’t it possible that a village in Goalpara, a predominantly Assamese speaking district, would regard a newcomer from Bangla-speaking Indian district of KarlmganJ or Cachhar as a Bangladeshi and persuade the authorities to treat him or his family as such? Again, a family from Nadia, a district In West Bengal, that moves to Burdwan in search of better economic life may also get caught In the net.
Again, what about those who have been given their own ration cards or included in the voters' list? Where would Dixit place them? Within the eight to nine and a half million illegal Immigrants or outside?
There are two other points raised In the Dixit Interview, with the answers given by the Foreign Secretary, which we find particularly disturbing.
When asked if the Government of Bangladesh had been alerted about the "push-out" drive, the Indian official talks a great deal about "continuous consultation" among officials of the two countries, but stops short of answering the question in firm affirmative.
About putting up a fence along the Indo-Bangladcsh border, New Delhi does not see the need for an agreement with Dhaka. Dixit asks bluntly. "Why should we have to get an agreement from a foreign country when we are putting up a fence on our side of the border?"
The response hardly reflects the SAARC spirit. It also Ignores the psychological impact on the people of Bangladesh who may discover one morning that their country has been fenced off on virtually three sides.
While New Delhi talks about putting up a fence, presumably at an enormous cost, it has also made a case for securing transit facilities to Chittagong to ease the pressure on the Port of Calcutta, pleads for more in-ter-aetton between people and offers scopes for more trade and even joint ventures.
When one identifies these contradictions in the overall Indian policy towards Bangla desh, there are Inevitable doubts about New Delhi's commitments to better relations with Dhaka on both long-term and short term basis
The Dixit interview has done little to remove these doubts