Nishank seeks info on illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Uttarakhand

Lok Sabha member from Haridwar Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Monday demanded ouster of suspected Bangladesh migrants living in the state.

The former chief minister apprised district magistrate Deepak Rawat of threat being posed by such people to national security and the state’s peaceful atmosphere.

“It’s a serious issue as Uttarakhand shares international borders with two countries. We won’t allow peaceful atmosphere of the hill state to get affected. Will raise this issue with the union home ministry,” said Nishank.

The demand comes a day after police found a suspected person strolling in premise of Sabir Pak Piran Kaliyar shrine during a verification drive at Piran Kaliyar.

On interrogation, the person - identified as Nasir Ahmed – said he was a resident of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Circle officer SK Singh said Nasir had trespassed India-Bangladesh border illegally in February. Prior to arriving in Piran Kaliyar, he was living at Ajmer Sharif Dargah, Rajasthan and Nizamuddin dargah in New Delhi.

There are 47 slum colonies in Haridwar district’s urban area, where many residents of Bangladesh and Nepal are suspected to be living illegally.

Senior Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar VK said several complaints have been received in this regard and a verification drive was being conducted.

State government spokesperson Madan Kaushik had stated that there was suspicion of Rohingya Muslim intrusion in the district and the administration was directed to take action.

Khanpur legislator Kunwar Pranav Champion, who has raised the issue two weeks ago with chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, said infiltration of Bangladeshis in the state was of national concern.

The Congress was opposing National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, owing to vote bank politics, he said.

Congress leader and former Haridwar legislator Ambrish Kumar said BJP leaders were trying to fuel the issue of Bangladesh migrants with an eye on the 2019 general election.

Uttarakhand Kranti Dal central president Diwakar Bhatt said illegal residents in future can pose many problems, which were being faced by Assam and West Bengal.

In the draft NRC published on July 30 in Assam, names of 40,07,707 people were kept out of the register over discrepancies.