Kolkata: Soon after a holding centre for illegal Bangladeshi immigrants came up in the Malda district of West Bengal, state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said that such people should be immediately sent back across the border.
While backing the state government’s “detect, delete and deport” policy against illegal immigrants, Bhattacharya told CNN-News18 that detained infiltrators should be immediately sent back instead of being housed in holding centres.
“I would request chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, why detention centres? Why feed free meals to the illegals even for a day? Catch them and send them back immediately,” he said.
“My message is, ‘Don’t feed free biryani to them’,” Bhattacharya said in one of his sharpest remarks on the issue.
Illegal immigrants should not be allowed to stay in India under any circumstances, he asserted.
“If they (illegals) have to come to India, they have to bring lands along with them,” he said during the interview.
“We are very clear. We will detect, delete and deport. India is not a dharamshala,” Bhattacharya added.
Illegal immigrants were using West Bengal as a route to target neighbouring states as well, the BJP leader claimed.
“They were using Bengal to target tribals of Jharkhand as well,” he alleged.
Bhattacharya’s comments come days after Adhikari announced a tougher border-security and anti-infiltration framework in the state. On May 20, while addressing a press conference at the state secretariat alongside senior BSF officials, the CM unveiled what he described as a “detect, delete and deport” mechanism targeting infiltrators.
Infiltrators detained by the police would be handed over directly to the BSF, Adhikari had said.
Communities not covered under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act would face detention and deportation under the new mechanism, he asserted.
“Those who are not covered under the CAA will be treated as infiltrators. State police will detain and hand them over to the BSF. The BSF will speak to the BGB and take necessary steps to deport them,” Adhikari had said.
Malda became the first district in West Bengal to set up a holding centre for illegal foreign nationals under the “detect, delete and deport” framework, PTI reported.
Nine suspected Bangladeshi nationals, including three women and six minors, were housed at the facility set up at Chandan Park in English Bazar.
