India’s hunt for “illegal immigrants” is aimed at Muslims
Amit shah, India’s home minister, calls them “termites” and “infiltrators”. The government will hunt them down and throw them into the sea, he thunders. Unfortunately, it is not just the standard bluster from a nativist politician railing against illegal immigration.
Last year bureaucrats in the Indian state of Assam, which has a population of about 33m people, produced a list of more than 4m of its residents whom they consider foreigners, without any right to live there. A further 100,000 people were deemed non-citizens in June….
…The supposed illegal immigrants are overwhelmingly Muslim. The purge is therefore exacerbating sectarian tension in a state that saw bloody Hindu-Muslim riots as recently as 2012, when some 400,000 people were displaced. Yet Mr Shah considers the campaign in Assam against illegal immigrants such a success that he wants to replicate it throughout the entire country.
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/07/11/indias-hunt-for-illegal-immigrants-is-aimed-at-muslims
SEE ALSO:
- Assam NRC: Death toll rises to 57, 6 people die in 13 days! (Jul 9, 2019, Sabrang India)
https://www.sabrangindia.in/article/assam-nrc-death-toll-rises-57-6-people-die-13-days - ‘Foreigner’ Madhubala Mandal’s Tragic Life Story Underlines Assam’s Horror Bid To Eliminate Illegal Migrants (Jul 3, 2019, Outlook)
https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/india-news-foreigner-madhubala-dass-tragic-life-story-underlines-assams-horror-bid-to-eliminate-illegal-migrants/301872 - Among those still missing in NRC, son of freedom fighter and Assam agitation participant (Jul 10, 2019, Indian Express)
https://indianexpress.com/article/north-east-india/assam/assam-nrc-list-exclusion-list-freedom-fighter-5823256/ - Born in 1943, Assam man carries ‘foreigner’ tag (Jul 9, 2019, The Hindu)
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/born-in-1943-assam-man-carries-foreigner-tag/article28335585.ece
