Laws must be strictly applied against illegal migrants: Bengal MLA Nawsad Siddique

New Delhi, June 3 (IANS) Indian Secular Front (ISF) MLA Nawsad Siddique has called for strict legal action against illegal immigrants following Operation Sindoor, during which over 2,000 alleged illegal Bangladeshi immigrants have reportedly been deported since early May.

Emphasising the need for the rule of law, Siddique said, “Whoever is an illegal citizen in India, whether they are Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Afghanistani, or anyone else, our country is a democracy, we have a Constitution, we have laws, and we all must abide by them. Against illegal migrants, the law should be strictly enforced.”

His remarks come amid mounting political pressure on the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal to clarify its stance on the deportations.

When asked whether Trinamool would allow illegal Bangladeshi immigrants to stay in Bengal or take action to expel them, Siddique responded cautiously: “I don’t know what they will do. Those who come illegally, the laws that exist in our country should be applied to them strictly.”

According to media reports, since the launch of Operation Sindoor on May 7, Indian authorities have deported more than 2,000 alleged illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. The operation followed a nationwide verification drive aimed at identifying undocumented foreign nationals.

Many of these individuals, the reports state, were airlifted in Indian Air Force aircraft from various detention centres across the country to border points in eastern India. They were then placed in temporary camps under the custody of the Border Security Force (BSF), where they were given food and provided with Bangladeshi currency if necessary. After brief detention, they were “pushed back” into Bangladesh.

Additionally, Delhi Police have, in a concerted capital-wide drive, identified 470 people as illegal Bangladeshi migrants and another 50 as foreigners who have overstayed and deported them via the land border to Bangladesh.

--IANS

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