Question 2742

Read the passage and answer the following questions. Many parts of the world are virtually borderless, and India has opted not to fence its 1,800-km long border with Nepal and the 4,057 km border with China –— the contentious Line of Actual Control — lies unfenced too. The borders with Bhutan and Myanmar also lie open.In the early 1980s thousands of Bangladeshis illegally moved to neighboring Indian states in search of land and employment. By 1982 the steady influx of Bangla speakers sparked a major ethnic backlash in the Indian state of Assam, leading to the slaughter of thousands of non-Assamese. In order to placate Assamese public opinion, the governments of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi promised to stem illegal immigration, and in order to do so began constructtion of a barbed-wire fencing along the Indo-Bangladeshi border in the area. India's plan to erect a fence to prevent cross-border migration from Bangladesh and Bangladesh's desire that Chakma insurgents not receive Indian covert assistance and refuge in India were major irritants in bilateral relations. By 2012 India was constructing a 4,000-kilometer fence to seal the India-Bangladesh international border. The fence is intended to curb infiltration, movement of militants and enhance management on the India-Bangladesh border. The border fencing by India, to prevent smuggling of humans, cattle, drugs and arms, has been a prickly issue in bilateral relations. The fence was seen as an outrage among the Bangladeshi public, and the government of Bangladesh has made repeated protests to the Indian government over the matter. The Indo-Bangladesh border is marked by a high degree of porosity and checking illegal cross border activities has been a challenging proposition. The main problem is of illegal migration from Bangladesh into India. In order to prevent illegal immigration and other anti-national activities from across the border, the Government of India had sanctioned the construction of border roads and fencing in two phases.In the mid- and late 1980s, India's plan to erect a fence to prevent cross-border migration from Bangladesh and Bangladesh's desire that Chakma insurgents not receive Indian covert assistance and refuge in India were major irritants in bilateral relations. As agreed eighteen years earlier, in June 1992 India granted a perpetual lease to Bangladesh for the narrow, 1.5-hectare Tin Bigha corridor in the Ganga's delta that had long separated an enclave of Bangladeshis from their homeland. The two countries signed new agreements to enhance economic cooperation. Bangladesh also received Indian developmental assistance, but that aid was minor compared with the amounts India granted to Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives. Fencing had not been undertaken in some length on account of non-feasibility, riverine/low lying areas, population within 150 yards of the border, pending land acquisition cases. Government decided to undertake floodlighting in 2840 Km along the entire length of Indo-Bangladesh border, in the stretches where the fencing had been erected, at an estimate cost of Rs.1327.00 crore. The floodlighting work so commenced during the year 2007-08 and would be completed by the year 2011-12. The Government of India decided to replace the entire 861 Km of fence constructed under Phase-I in West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya, as most of this fence has been damaged due to adverse climatic conditions, repeated submergence etc. The replacement work has already commenced in the States of Assam and West Bengal. Some 193.70 Km of fencing had been replaced by 2008.With a towering razor-wire fence and heavily armed Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) guards who kill around 200 people every year, the fence along the India-Bangladesh border is ominous and sometimes dangerous. The fence, which snakes through paddy fields about 150 yards inside India’s notoriously porous border with Bangladesh, has torn apart the lives of tens of thousands of people, cutting them off from family, friends, jobs and schools. Bangladeshi official say the Indian plan to build more fencing will not stop illegal cattle trading. Major Mahmudul Hasan of the Bangladesh Rifles said "Most of the killings are related to illegal cattle trading. If it was legal to trade cattle the killings will stop." He said the fencing would not reduce the deaths because cattle traders simply cut through it. In majority Hindu India, cows are considered sacred and beef is not eaten but in Muslim Bangladesh, beef is a staple and the price is much higher. In January 2016 Home Minister Rajnath Singh had admitted that much of the fencing of 263-km-long border that Assam shares with Bangladesh is incomplete.He assured that the fencing will be over by the end of this year. In fact, soon after assuming office as the new Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal too made sealing of the Assam’s stretch of the India-Bangladesh border a priority. Yet fencing too is often unable to keep cattle smugglers and other traffickers from illegally entering or exiting India. At times, the Bangladeshi immigrants risk their lives and jump over a wall or barbed wire to enter India. Many of them want to escape poverty at home, which is of course a concern, but there are some who arrive with malicious intent. Fencing the entire Indo-Bangladesh border is now very, very important. Since Bangladesh has degenerated into a State where Islamists are calling the shots, the flames there are bound to singe India.To protect herself, India must wear a suit of armour. Sealing the border with fence, floodlights, laser walls and motion detectors besides continuous patrolling will at least serve as a shield. What was the impact in India due to the steady influx of immigrants from Bangladesh in 1982?