Pak aiding, China backing influx in N-E: Army chief

NEW DELHI: Army chief Bipin Rawat said on Wednesday that Pakistan, with support from China, is pushing illegal migrants from Bangladesh into India’s northeastern states, where the “population dynamics can no longer be changed”. Rawat did not elaborate on what he meant by population dynamics but referred to the party All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which is accused by its political opponents of pandering to illegal immigrants.

“They will always try and ensure that this area is taken over… playing the proxy dimension of warfare where they do not have to confront a stronger nation through conventional operations,” he said, adding: “This proxy game is being well played by our western neighbour and supported also by the northern neighbour.”

General Rawat did not name Pakistan or China, instead using “western neighbour” and “northern neighbour” to refer to them.

He was speaking at a conference on the Northeast in the Capital. He said India needed to identify problems in the northeast and address them holistically, with a focus on development and on ways to integrate the region with the rest of the country. “I think the government is looking at the Northeast with correct perspective...With development will come control of the people residing in this area. I don’t think now you can change the population dynamics of this region... there is a party called AIUDF. It has grown at a faster rate than the BJP has over the years... AIUDF is moving at a faster pace in the state of Assam.”

His concerns on population come at a time when attempts are being made to publish the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam that would identify illegal migrants. The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected petitions seeking extension of the deadline for its publication from May 31 to July 31. In November 2016, junior home minister Kiren Rijiju told Parliament that government estimates put the number of illegal Bangladeshi migrants staying in India at “around 20 million”.