Detection and Deportation of ‘Illegal Immigrants’-Whose responsibility?

Why is that, there occurs a need for the students’ union or for that matter any other organization or body to step into the shoes of authorities to carry out the work that normally the administration would have been doing? Take for instance the recent ‘Operation Clean Drive’ carried out by the Apex Students’ body of the state AAPSU (All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union) to flush out illegal migrants (read Bangladeshi) from the state. The initiative of the students’ union resulted in driving out more than 5000 illegal migrants from the Capital Complex alone. In doing so, the students union has been alleged of harassing the bonafide Indian Citizen having valid ILP (Inner Line Permit) and resulted in repercussion from the displaced migrants in the form of attack on people of Arunachal traveling at Assam road (unfortunately, one has to traverse through Assam, to move from one district to another at Arunachal Pradesh), political turmoil at Assam owing to mass exodus of illegal migrants from Arunachal Pradesh to Assam, with opposition parties demanding Tarun Gogoi government to deport these ‘foreign nationals’ and not to patronage them and even possible terrorist threat in the Capital Complex. Wasn’t it the duty of administration to detect and deport the illegal migrants rather than the Students’ body?

And when AAPSU announced second phase of ‘Operation Clean Drive’ from August 17^th, it made me wonder, would the Government still sit idle and not step in to check the illegal immigrant? Is it enough just to make the issuance of ILP stricter without properly manning the entry gate? Sometimes, I feel all this entry formality in the form of ILP is just a joke. Greasing the palms of personnel at the entry gate one can easily gain access into Arunachal Pradesh, and this is a known fact among the people of Arunachal. It [ILP] has become a tool just for fattening the pockets of those manning the entry point/gates and a deterrent to potential tourists and investors rather than what it was devised for.

But it seems the administration has risen from deep slumber and finally owned up that it’s their responsibility and not the Students’ organization to detect and deport the illegal immigrants.

“Papum Pare deputy commissioner Bidol Tayeng, in a letter to AAPSU convenor Kamta Lapung stated that detecting a foreigner or a person without valid inner-line permit was a routine duty of the government. The student organisation could only bring anomalies to the notice of the government.”

Read full story here.

Further, Papum Pare Deputy Commissioner, Bidol Tayeng, has asserted that the proposed second phase of Operation Clean Drive from August 17^th would not be allowed to be carried out, terming that if allowed, it would be tantamount to running a parallel administration by the students.

Rightly said; had the administration sensed it earlier and had done their duty sincerely, this situation wouldn’t have aroused at the first place and the students’ community wouldn’t have stepped in. The Arunachalee commuters wouldn’t have been manhandled at Assam and may be with better co-ordination between the Arunachal Pradesh and Assam governments, the deportation of illegal migrants could have been carried out much better without any political turmoil in the neighbouring state.

Now, it is only hoped that the administration and the government who has realized their mistake, though lately, would do their duties sincerely. That ILP wouldn’t just remain as minting machine for the personnel at the entry point and deterrent to the potential tourists and investors which could contribute to the economy of the state. In that case, what I feel is, it would be better-off with ILP-at least then, there would be free flow of economy to and from the state.