20 million illegal Bangladesh migrants form 2 per cent of India’s population

Two crore illegal Bangla migrants, 600 deported last year: states report
Amitabh Sinha 
 Oct 04, 2009

New Delhi: Estimates sent by the state governments have given an official number to
what has been known informally for a very long time – that illegal
migrants from Bangladesh now comprise at least two per cent of India’s
population.

According to “very conservative estimates” of the state governments, the
total number of Bangladeshi citizens residing in India without proper
documents or permits would be in excess of 2 crore, government sources
have told The Sunday Express.

The state governments had been asked to send estimates of the number of
Bangladeshi migrants living in their states and also the number of such
people who had been deported back to their country. Most states have now
responded.

According to these figures, not more than 600 Bangladeshi migrants had
been deported to their country in the last one year and the possibility
of many of them finding their way back isn’t being ruled out.

Migrants from Bangladesh now live in every part of the country. Besides
West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and other North-Eastern states – the known
places where these illegal migrants have been able to settle down –
Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka are
new regions having large concentrations of Bangladeshi citizens. Sources
said these were also areas witnessing rapid urbanization and
development, and therefore, offering job opportunities to these
migrants.

Though it had asked for the data from the states, the Centre was still
undecided on what use to put this data to.

“This was mostly an academic exercise, not aimed at any particular
objective. The figures that have come out are only estimates, but they
are reliable estimates,” a senior government official said. He said as
of now there was no clarity on how to deal with this migrant population.

“That is something that the political leadership will have to take a
call on, probably after obtaining a consensus on the issue. Migration
from Bangladesh has huge social and economic aspects apart from having
security implications. There is no easy way to tackle this issue,” he
said.

Pak Hindus hide in Punjab, forcible conversions, abductions, torture in Pakistan

Pak Hindus hide in Punjab
Ajay Bharadwaj
Thursday, December 25, 2008  01:09 IST

CHANDIGARH: Fearing persecution in Pakistan, more than 150 families of Pakistani Hindus have been hiding in Punjab and Haryana for the past two years without valid documents to support their stay in India.

Police in the two states have not initiated any legal action against them, though their stay has been termed “grossly illegal”. The police said about 5,000 to 6,000 Pakistani Hindus are living in the two states. “The refugees are refusing to go back to their country,” said a senior police officer.

Om Prakash, a Pakistani Hindu, said: “We lived in the Mianwali area of Pakistan. While many of our relatives crossed over to India in 1947, we failed to do so.”

“We were tortured in Pakistan. Daughters of poor Hindu families were abducted. There was no point in complaining to the police as they refused to help,” they said.

Om Parkash, who used to run a small shop near Peshawar, said in the past few years many Hindus had been killed by criminals for ransom or for not converting to Islam.

Many of the refugees are keen on taking Indian citizenship. Official sources said the problem had been brought to the notice of the Union home ministry. “If we give them Indian citizenship, our relation with Pakistan may be affected. That is why their cases have been pending for so long,” the sources said.