The Chief Election Commissioner, Shri S.L. Shakdher told a conference of State Chief Electoral Officers in 1978, "In one State (Assam), the population in 1971 recorded an increase as high as 34.98 per cent, over the 1961 figures and this increase was attributed to the influx of a very large number of persons from the neighbouring countries. The flux has become a regular feature. I think it may not be a wrong assessment to make, on the basis of the increase of 34.98 per cent between the two censuses, the increase that is likely to be recorded in 1991 census would be more than 100 per cent over the 1961 census. In other words, a stage would be reached when the State would have to reckon with the foreign nationals who may probably constitute a sizeable percentage, if not the majority of the population of the State. Another disturbing factor in this regard is the demand made by the political parties for the inclusion in the electoral rolls of the names of such migrants who are not Indian c

Initially, the State Police with its limited resources policed this border but they could not stem the trans-border movement. The large influx into Assam was a matter of great concern. Government of India evolved the PIP (Prevention of Infiltration from Pakistan) scheme, which came into operation in 1964. 159 Watch Posts, 15 Patrol Posts and 6 Passport Check Posts were set up. A Police force of 1914 personnel under a DIG was deployed to check infiltration. After the 1965 war, when the Border Security Force came into being, responsibility for guarding the border was taken over by that Force. The Border organisation set up under the PIP scheme was now deployed in the interior to identify and deport illegal migrants. In 1987 this organisation was augmented by 1280 officers and men provided by Government of India and 806 by Government of Assam, making a total of 4000 personnel. Currently, this organisation is functioning under an Additional DG Police of Assam.

Whereas in the West, the trans-border movement of refugees from India to Pakistan and vice versa was a deluge which lasted only a few months, in the East the situation was very different. Hindus from East Pakistan (Bangladesh) kept coming across for many years and indeed they still continue to come. Muslims from Assam going to East Pakistan were relatively in much less number. The traditional influx of Bengali Muslims into Assam continued unabated. The large scale movement of Bengali population, both Hindus and Muslims into Assam, caused considerable resentment among the Assamese people and there were instances of anti-Bengali riots.

Assam has 262 km border with Bangladesh out of which 92 km is riverine. In 1947 with the emergence of two dominions on the Sub-Continent, India and Pakistan, this became an international border. For the first few years, unrestricted trans-border movement continued in this sector. Bengali Hindu refugees from East Pakistan fleeing from their homes poured across the border seeking asylum. Concurrently, Bengali Muslims too continued to come across the border for economic reasons. There was also some movement of Muslims from Assam into East Pakistan.

The dangerous consequences of large scale illegal migration from Bangladesh, both for the people of Assam and more for the Nation as a whole, need to be emphatically stressed. No misconceived and mistaken notions of secularism should be allowed to come in the way of doing so. As a result of population movement from Bangladesh, the spectre looms large of the indigenous people of Assam being reduced to a minority in their home State. Their cultural survival will be in jeopardy, their political control will be weakened and their employment opportunities will be undermined. This silent and invidious demographic invasion of Assam may result in the loss of the geostrategically vital districts of Lower Assam. The influx of these illegal migrants is turning these districts into a Muslim majority region. It will then only be a matter of time when a demand for their merger with Bangladesh may be made. The rapid growth of international Islamic fundamentalism may provide the driving force for th

The growth of Muslim population has been emphasised in the previous paragraph to indicate the extent of illegal migration from Bangladesh to Assam because as stated earlier, the illegal migrants coming into India after 1971 have been almost exclusively Muslims. 21. Pakistan's ISI has been active in Bangladesh supporting militant movements in Assam. Muslim militant organisations have mushroomed in Assam and there are reports of some 50 Assamese Muslim youth having gone for training to Afghanistan and Kashmir.

The decadal growth rate for both Hindus and Muslims for the period 1951-61 and 1961-71 was higher than their respective All India growth rate, indicating migration of both communities into Assam. However, during the period 1971-91 Hindu growth rate in Assam was much less than the All India figure. Possibly, this was due to large scale population movement of non-Assamese Hindus out of Assam during the Students movement and subsequent militancy in the State. In the case of Muslims the Assam growth rate was much higher than the All India rate. This suggests continued large scale Muslim illegal migration into Assam. Muslim population of Assam has shown a rise of 77.42% in 1991 from what it was in 1971. Hindu population has risen by nearly 41.89% in this period. Muslim population in Assam has risen from 24.68% in 1951 to 28.42% in 1991. As per 1991 census, four districts (Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta and Hailakandi) have become Muslim majority districts. Two more districts (Nowgaon and Karim

There was no census in Assam in 1981. The figures indicated have been worked out on the basis of 1971-91 growth rate. There was no census in Bangladesh in 1971. It was carried out in 1974. The population grew by 40.4% between 1961-74 and another 21.9% during 1974-81. The much higher percentage of growth rate in Assam from 1911 to 1971 over the All India and Bangladesh figures indicate migration into Assam. The All India growth rate for 1921 should be treated as an aberration but even in that decade Assam's growth rate was higher than neighbouring Bengal districts which now constitute Bangladesh. The reduced percentage of growth rates for Assam in 1971-91 presents a distorted picture unless one relates it to community-wise percentage of growth in Assam as

Bangladesh census records indicate a reduction of 39 lakhs Hindus between 1971 and 1981 and another 36 lakhs between 1981 and 1989. These 75 lakhs (39+36) Hindus have obviously come into India. Perhaps most of them have come into States other than Assam. There were 7.5 lakh Bihari Muslims in refugee camps in Bangladesh in 1971. At the instance of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan was persuaded to accept 33,000 Bihari Muslims. There are at present only 2 lakh Bihari Muslims in refugee camps in Bangladesh. The unaccounted for 5.17 lakhs must have infiltrated into India, as there is little possibility or evidence of there having merged into Bangladesh society. In 1970 the total population of East Pakistan was 7.5 crores but in 1974 it had come down to 7.14 crores. On the basis of 3.1% annual population growth rate of that period, the population in 1974 should have been 7.7 crores. The shortfall of 6 million people can be explained only by large scale migration. Assam specific figures of illegal m

On 10 April, 1992, Shri Hiteshwar Saikia, the then Chief Minister of Assam stated that there were 3 million Bangladeshi illegal migrants in Assam but two days later, he committed a volt face and declared that there were no illegal migrants in Assam. However, one can see for oneself, the large scale infiltration of Bangladeshis that has taken place into Assam. Looking at the population in the border areas of Assam, sometimes one wonders whether one is in Assam or in Bangladesh. Shri E.N. Rammohan, DG. BSF, who is an IPS officer of Assam cadre, in his report of 10 February, 1997 has stated, "As Additional S.P. in 1968 in Nowgaon, I did not see a single Bangladeshi village in Jagi Road or in Kaziranga. In 1982, when I was posted as DIGP, Northern Range, Tezpur, five new Bangladeshis Muslim villages had come up near Jagi Road and hundreds of families had built up their huts encroaching into the land of the Kaziranga Game Sanctuary". He mentioned that in 1971 the large island of Chawalkhoa