Patna, March 29 – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Sunday called for the fencing of the border areas in West Bengal that border Bangladesh, accusing the Trinamool Congress government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, of "protecting infiltrators."
This comes a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah released the BJP's 35-page "white paper" on the 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule in West Bengal. The document claimed that 569 km of the 2,216.7 km international border with Bangladesh in West Bengal remains unfenced, allegedly due to delays by the state government in acquiring land for barbed fencing, which, it said, has facilitated infiltration.
Earlier in the day, Bihar Minister and BJP leader Dilip Kumar Jaiswal told reporters, "The border areas of Bengal that previously shared a boundary with (East) Pakistan, now share a boundary with Bangladesh, stretching from West Bengal to Assam. Therefore, it is essential that fencing be carried out across the entire region."
He further elaborated, "Some areas have hilly terrain, and there are also rivers, so this poses a challenge for fencing, and illegal infiltrators are taking advantage of that. So it is very important for the country that fencing should be done there. Then nobody would attempt to compromise the country's security from there."
Notably, the BJP document accused the Trinamool Congress of running syndicates to facilitate the issuance of fake identity cards to infiltrators in order to build "vote banks," thereby compromising national security and demographic balance.
Bihar BJP President Sanjay Saraogi, while supporting the party's "white paper," accused the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government of shielding illegal infiltrators.
He said, "Home Minister Amit Shah has rightly spoken about the situation in West Bengal, the Trinamool government (in the state), and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Whether it's infiltrators, Rohingyas, or Bangladeshis, the Trinamool government is providing protection to everyone."
The Bihar BJP President also alleged that the state's resources are being misused due to illegal infiltration.
"The infiltrators and Bangladeshis are misusing the state's resources, which is why the people of Bengal are unable to use these resources. So whatever HM Shah said is correct," he said.
Sharpening his attack on Trinamool, Saraogi said, "The Bengal government is involved in facilitating the entry of infiltrators from Bangladesh into West Bengal."
"Both the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee will have to bear the consequences of this in the coming days, when the BJP will form its government in the state," he told reporters.