M A I N   N E W S

Centre to repeal IMDT Act

New Delhi, June 27
The Centre has decided to repeal the Immigration and Migration (determination by Tribunals) Act (IMDT) in the upcoming Parliament session, according to highly placed official sources.

Sources say the Act was originally intended to deal with illegal migration into the North-Eastern states from Bangladesh but over the past 20 years less than 1600 persons have been identified as illegal migrants, whereas the actual figure is far more and illegal migration continues unabated. Sources say once the Act is repealed it will make it easier for the law enforcement agencies to take action against illegal settlers.

In response to a question on how the repealing of this Act will be perceived by the minorities, sources say the Constitution extends full protection to all citizens with institutions like the Human Rights Commission, Minorities Commission, Supreme Court etc.

Explaining the rationale behind repealing the Act, sources point to how Assam’s economic and social fabric has been affected by the steady flow of migrants from Bangladesh. They say unless something urgent is done there is a distinct possibility that Assam’s demographics may change as the citizens of the state are steadily being overwhelmed by the flow of illegal migrants. Another factor, say sources, is the manner in which militant and hostile organisations are able to use the burgeoning pool of illegal migrants to their use. It is no secret that the ISI depends upon the illegal migrants in the North-East to do its dirty work against India. So, there is also a law and order dimension to this issue which the doing away of the Act will take care of. — ANI