Alongside facing the ongoing Rohingya crisis described by many as one of the gravest experienced by the country since its inception, Dhaka is also having to keep an eye on the Indian state of Assam where politicians, especially those belonging or connected to ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and media, are engaged in a propaganda associating Bangladesh with illegal migration.

It is often stated by people associated with BJP, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as a large section of Assamese media that several millions of Bangladeshis are illegally residing in the state of Assam and that they should be expelled.

There is an exercise going on in Assam in the name of updating of National Register of Citizenship (NRC) and it is feared that many people might be declared as not Indian citizens. Before the conclusion of the exercise under the supervision of the Indian Supreme Court, elements of the ruling party and a section of media have started branding the Bangalee Muslims and Hindus, who migrated to the state of Assam long before the creation of Bangladesh, as foreigners.

Speaking to The Independent over the last couple of days in the Assamese capital, quite a few people said that the situation of Muslims is much worse than the Hindus.  

According to the officials of foreign ministry of Bangladesh, this notion is absolutely unfounded and baseless.

Though repeated spread of such propaganda by the Indians associating Bangladesh with something untrue irks the government, it remains silent as the Indian government has never ever raised this issue with the Bangladesh side at any level of talks between the two countries, they said.

As far as Bangladesh is concerned, the officials said that it is an ‘internal political game’ of Assam, and India for that matter.

However, they added that this type of propaganda is unbecoming of a friendly neighbour and it should be stopped for the greater interest of the friendship between the two countries that is described by leaders of both the countries as important.

Meanwhile, former and serving diplomats have denounced such propaganda by the country’s ‘first neighbour’ and placed great emphasis on taking preparations to face any untoward incident that might follow after the publication of the final NRC.

The government should learn from the experience of facing the Rohingya crisis, they said, reminding that India recently did not vote for Bangladesh on a resolution on the Rohingya issue at the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Despite Indian abstentions, both the resolutions were passed.

To a question, the government officials admitted that it is true that there has been little work from the Bangladesh side in this regard and that more are needed to be done.

 “The state government of Assam or the central government of India never raised the issue with me. For me, it is their internal matter.

But, associating Bangladesh with one of their internal matters does not please me at all,” Kazi Muntashir Murshed, the first assistant high commissioner of Bangladesh in Guwahati, told The Independent yesterday.

“We’re following the situation,” he said. “Our position is to keep quiet till they raise this with us officially,” said a senior official, who requested anonymity as he is not authorised to talk to the media.

“Yes, remarks from Assam associating Bangladesh with illegal migration irritate us because it is not true,” he said.  

When contacted, retired secretary of the foreign ministry Ambassador Dr M Afsarul Quader expressed his annoyance over the happenings in Assam related to Bangladesh and described this as preposterous and political aiming to de-franchise people.

Referring to history of migration in this region, he said, “India cannot delink from the history.” To a question, he added that lessons should be learnt from every incident, including the Rohingya crisis.

“So, we’re going to have another front. The government says that it has good relations with the India. They should handle the issue efficiently,” said former foreign secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury.

About the problem, many Assamese academicians, civil society representatives and journalists said that this is a political problem and efforts are there to keep it alive for political gain, which is not helping the state and its people.

To a question, they hoped that common sense will prevail among all the stakeholders and a flawless NRC will be achieved to solve the problem once and for all. But, they added that any possibility of a solution appears to be far away.