NEW
DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 THE Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has
decided to launch a stir demanding separate coloured identity cards for
the Bangladeshi migrants residing in Delhi. The Delhi unit chief, Mange
Ram Garg, reportedly met Home Minister LK Advani to ask him to take
immediate steps in this direction.
"Home
Minister Advaniji is also convinced that special coloured ID cards should
be issued to Bangladeshis residing in Delhi. ' Where has to he some
account of the number of people coming in from the neighbouring countries.
They pressurize Delhi's land, water and civic amenities," Garg said.
"Advaniji
assured us that a decision on this would be taken very soon," said
Garg. "Every other ountry has a system of work-permits for
foreigners. Only we have no rules. This is costing the city and its
legitimate citizens a lot." The BJP has been blaming the burgeoning
Bangladeshi population in the Capital for all its ills including the water
and electricity crisis of last summer, one of the reasons that led to the
fall ofthe BJP in the last elections.
"We
have been asking for multi-purpose ID-cards for all citizens so as to keep
a tab on the population. We have nothing against Bangladeshis working
here, but there has to be a procedure for identification so that they do
not become permanent citizens and we have a count on them," a senior
pasty leader said.
According
to Garg, the colour ID card, as proposed by the Home Ministry, would be a
kind of work permit for the people coming in from Bangladesh "The
Bangladeshi migrants are a constant strain on Delhi's resources. We
urgently need to take steps to control the unrestricted inflow. No other
country or state is as lenient as ours on this count," he said.
(TheIndian
Express, February 17,1999)