India’s biggest internal security headache would be the migrants from Bengal, radicals from Kerala

New Delhi, Jan 01: Illegal immigration and radicalisation are two major national security concerns. The bulk of these problems are contributed by Bengal and Kerala. In many cases, both are directly interconnected and both these states do not appear to have woken up to the problem despite being warned. Is it the politics of vote bank? Let us call it that.

Kerala:

Kerala, unlike West Bengal, has one major positive. It is a 100 per cent literate state. However, attached to the problem of radicalisation.

The issue of radicalisation is not a new one. Basheer, a resident of Kerala, who was studying aeronautical engineering and was part of the extremist faction of the Students Islamic Movement of India had organised a convention in Bombay. Later it was found that this was a convention sponsored by Pakistan to create a liaison between the Khalistan terrorists and the SIMI.

Pakistan had brought in Lal Singh, who was part of the Khalistan movement. Pakistan wanted the SIMI to grow and the target was South India. Basheer had even surveyed the Madras Stock Exchange that year with an intention of bombing it. The plan did not work out and two years later Dawood Ibrahim helped bomb the Bombay Stock Exchange. Now, this was a case that dates back to 1991.

NIA officials probing the Kerala ISIS case say that the prime concern is that all those who have left for the ISIS in Afghanistan are educated. The officer says that a person by the name Shihas had played a major role in building up the module. He had managed to rope in several persons including one Nashidhul, who was initially opposed to the ideology of the ISIS.

During investigations, the NIA learnt that the brainwashing was so strong that many who did not subscribe to the view of the outfit ended up getting convinced. They are repeatedly told that as Muslims they are living on unholy land and they could lead a better life and become good Muslims only if they subscribe to the view of the ISIS.

Shihas incidentally was linked to the Peace Foundation that is run by Zakir Naik. He managed to convince many to attend classes at the Peace Foundation. The officer adds that the spread of this foundation is large in Kerala and this we have noticed is the crux of the problem.

When it comes to Kerala, the key concern remains radicalisation and Wahhabism. Allowing Wahhabism is a danger to our integrity. We should not let pockets of our country be dominated by such radical thoughts, says former officer with the Research and Analysis Wing, V Balachandran.

Bengal:

The biggest opposition to the NRC has been from Mamata Banerjee. She is the same lady who tore papers in the well of the House as an MP when she was not allowed to raise this issue when the CPM was in power in Bengal.

Back in 2012, the Intelligence Bureau had reported that the issue was catching up like wildfire in the states of West Bengal, Kerala, Telangana (then AP) and Karnataka. The report stated that there are all sorts of people. Many are here in search of a livelihood, but then there are many who indulge in illegal activities such as smuggling as drugs and sometimes arms.

They come into the country through West Bengal and gradually move into other parts of the country. While touts and middlemen help them with documents, there are others who take advantage of their poor living conditions and lure them with money in order to carry out illegal activities.

In this context, we must take a look at what former Pakistan prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had said in his book. He had said, "it would be wrong to think that Kashmir is the only dispute that divides India and Pakistan, though undoubtedly the most significant.

One at least is nearly as important as the Kashmir dispute, that of Assam and some districts of India adjacent to East Pakistan. To these Pakistan has very good claims."

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in his book, Eastern Pakistan: Its Population and Economics, said, "because Eastern Pakistan must have sufficient land for its expansion and because Assam has abundant forests and mineral resources, coal, petroleum etc., Eastern Pakistan must include Assam to be financially and economically strong".

A former officer with the Research and Analysis Wing, Amar Bhushan says that this is a dangerous issue. He says that in the early 1990s, the Research and Analysis Wing carried out a daredevil operation in Bangladesh against the activities of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The intention behind the operation was a larger one and India was clearly worried about the rise of illegal immigration which the Jamaat was carrying out at the behest of the ISI.

The agenda was a larger one and after losing out on Bangladesh, the ISI wanted to infiltrate as many Muslims as possible in a bid to either merge a portion of India with Bangladesh or divide the nation.

Bhushan who has written about this mission in his latest book- The Zero Cost Mission/The Wily Agent says that they were alarmed by the spurt in illegal immigration into India.

Militancy was not exactly the problem and the Jamaat was not too big an outfit back then. The problem was that they were helping the ISI's larger design of increasing illegal immigration into India, Bhushan tells OneIndia.

The illegal immigration that takes place assumes worrying propositions. An intelligence file clearly suggests that illegal immigration from Bangladesh are part of a devious agenda to set up a Greater East Pakistan/Bangladesh.