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Reflections

Friday, May 23, 2008

On illegal migrants in India..

There has been a debate in India after Jaipur blasts on illegal migration from Bangladesh. The Rajasthan gov. and the Delhi CM have already come out in support of these immigrants.Here is my take on the issue.
Why illegal immigration is not good for India ?
1> India's huge population and large internal migration: India has a large population which is already more than what our natural resources can cater to. A large section of India is still living below poverty line. As a nation it's our duty to look after their needs first.
Secondly India experiences huge internal migration from state like Bihar ,UP and Orissa ( and on smaller scale other states too) .A case in point is the recent controversy generated by MNS in Maharashtra against Maharashtra. Our plate is already full .Where is the need for migrants from outside!!!!
2> Threat to India's security. Bangladesh is no friend of ours. We have al
ready had border skirmishes with Bangladesh
In the long term Bangladesh immigrants can pose danger to India's security. There are parts bordering Bangladesh in Assam where illegal Bangladeshis outnumber the locals .It's not difficult to fathom where there loyalties lie. The Indian security agencies have repeatedly pointed fingers at these illegal immigrants for their role in terrorist strikes in India.
3> Economic logic : Immigration makes sense when the country lacks manpower and talent. We have more than sufficient manpower. Anyways the illegal immigration that happens is of unskilled labour which doesn't make much economic sense. In Maharashtra we have a situation here we have a conflict between locals and outsiders .one of the major reason for such conflicts is economics of employment. The locals think that outsiders are taking their jobs ,such conflicts arise. So if India can't provide quality jobs to it's own citizens can we afford immigration.
4> Comparison with the west: One argument in favour of immigrants is that Indians themselves immigrate in large numbers to west. Then why stop Bangladeshis coming to India ? The case of Indians immigration to west can't be compared to the western countries because of the following reasons:-
a) When the immigration started to the west ,the west was much ahead in development than in India.
b) It required skilled and semi-skilled labour force.
c) The immigration to west from India has been of two types. The legal way which mostly included the highly skilled immigrants(the term brain drain was used in India) and the illegal immigration which mostly included semi-skilled and unskilled labour. So west has largely benefited from the immigration.
d) These Indian immigrants have never been a security threat to the countries to which they immigrated. India also doesn't share any border with these countries.
5>Helping the neighbour: There are better ways than illegal immigration to help the neighbours. Most of the immigrants are involved in low skiled jobs(rag picking etc) which may be good fore survival in short term but is not going to help in long term anybody(neither India or Bangladesh). We can share our technology with Bangladesh and collaborate to solve problem like poverty which affect both the countries. But this not politically rewarding ,so no political party will take this course.
Unfortunately many political parties consider the Bangaladeshi immigrants as vote banks. By not acting against this illegal immigration Indian government is silently encouraging the immigrants.

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