In view of the reported increase in the population of Bangladeshi infiltrators and refugees and their illegal inhabitation in the State, the demand for enforcement of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of India for identification and headcounts Bangladeshis has mounted.
According to unconfirmed sources, there are about 40 lakh Bangladeshis residing in the State now. They are living in big numbers in Kendrapada, Baleswar and other coastal districts by encroaching Government land illegally. Their presence in towns and cities is also remarkable.
Another source claimed that prawn mafia and Bangladeshi infiltrators have encroached upon two-third of coastal forestland of 350 sq km in the State.
In most of the places, the Bangladishis have been a vote base for politicians. Under such a situation, the politicians are protecting them, and the administration is not taking any action against them, viewed many.
Bangladeshis have been enlisted in electoral roll and issued voter identity cards. They have even got Aadhaar Cards. As they speak Bengali, they are identifying themselves as residents of Medinipur district and other parts of West Bengal. Newspapers have many times reported about involvement of Bangladeshis in nefarious activities like trading of ganja, opium and country liquor.Even though an 11-member team of MLAs had earlier written to the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and the Chief Minister urging them not to allot homestead land and Aadhaar card to Bangladeshi settlers, the demand has still remained unheard of, informed an intellectual.While MLAs have put questions many times to know about the number of Bangladeshi settlers in the State, the Chief Minister, who is in charge of the Home Department, has submitted an one-liner reply that “Information is being collected”, added the intellectual.
“The National Register of Citizens should come into force in Odisha in line of Assam to identify illegal Bangladeshi settlers for security of the State and the Country,” said a senior citizen.