Don't permit illegal Bangladeshis to India: P Chidambaram

New Delhi, Jan 11: Bangladeshis have no business to be in India without permission and there is 'no reason' why a large number of visas are being given to them every month, opined Home Minister P Chidambaram.

He warned to take strict measures again the illegal immigration from Bangladesh. Strict monitoring is necessary to check illegal entry into the country, he added. When Mumbai terror attacks are still fresh in the mind, Chidambaram voiced his concern over the ineffective monitoring system to check whether a Bangladeshi coming to India has returned to his country after expiry of his visa or stayed on.

Illegal immigration is causing unexpected demographic changes in Assam and West Bengal, he said, "I don't regard a Bangladeshi as a Muslim or a non-Muslim. He is a Bangladeshi. He has no business to come to India unless he has a visa. He has no business to live here unless he has a residence permit.

"He has no business to work here unless he has a work permit. He is a Bangladeshi. His religion is completely irrelevant," he told a news media. To a query, the home minister said, "I am now looking into what is happening on our borders, passport control points... I think we issue a very large number of visas to Bangladeshis every month.

"There is no reason to issue so many visas. And there is very ineffective monitoring system (to check) whether the guy has gone back to Bangladesh or remained here," Chidambaram said.
"I am in sympathy with that contention that demographies are changing. But some parts of the history cannot be retraced. So, one has to learn to accept it. Therefore, we will have to swallow something, accept some pain and then make sure that it doesn't continue for the next five or ten years," he said.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)