No case if you exit voluntarily, Amit Shah tells Bangladesh illegals

Gandhinagar: BJP govt in Bengal would not press charges against Bangladeshis living illegally in the state if they chose to return voluntarily, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Thursday, while reiterating the Centre's commitment to detect, detain and deport illegal immigrants from the country.

"Today, newspapers are saying that illegal immigrants are voluntarily returning. Bengal govt has made detention centres. But we all want that those who entered illegally go back voluntarily. If they do, state govt will not file any cases against them. Instead, it will help them return," Shah said, while accusing the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress govt of allowing unchecked infiltration into West Bengal.



"Hopefully, most will leave before the campaign to identify infiltrators begins. Our govt is resolved to remove every infiltrator from the country," Shah said during a public event at Sonipur in Gujarat's Gandhinagar district.

Shah said BJP had promised during its assembly election campaign in West Bengal that the India-Bangladesh border would be fenced if people voted the party to office.

Congratulating Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari, Shah said the new state govt had handed over 600 hectares of land to BSF for border fencing within seven days of assuming office. He added 121 hectares in the strategically important Siliguri Corridor - or 'Chicken's Neck' in north Bengal that links the North-East with the rest of India - had also been transferred to Union govt.

Shah said PM Narendra Modi had constituted a high-powered committee to examine the reasons behind "unnatural demographic changes". The panel would submit its report within a year.

"The committee will study the circumstances and suggest solutions, including whether there is a need for a legal framework to do away with illegal immigrants," Shah said.

The home minister said Modi had expanded Gujarat's development model across India over the past 12 years and claimed BJP governed nearly 80% of the country's geographical area. "From Gangasagar in Uttarakhand to Gangasagar in Bengal, BJP holds sway across the Ganga belt," he said.

Shah also paid tribute to Veer Savarkar on his birth anniversary, calling him a patriot whose contribution to India's freedom struggle required no official recognition.