To S.I.R. with love
"Remember, for your Progress, for your Welfare, for your Happiness, never fail to cast your vote in elections"- Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’
The news swirling around us, apart from smog in Delhi NCR, are once again (after the Bihar elections) focusing on the Special Intensive Review (SIR) being conducted by the Election Commission of India. There is a lot of noise in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and surprisingly in UP, Punjab and Delhi NCR. Especially revealing are the videos of illegal immigrants lining up at border checkpoints along WB-BD border for getting back to their native homes in Bangladesh. I wonder if it is because of the SIR being conducted in West Bengal or due to the Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025, which has come into force on 01 Sep 2025 - it is a moot question which, however, will answer itself in due course!
The ongoing debate rekindled the memory of my own experiences of this grave security problem, which I saw from various angles during my service. As a Company Commander, I was deployed for Op RHINO in the district of Barpeta and adjoining areas in Assam for about six months during 1995-96.
I remember coming across many overtly Muslim Bengali-speaking men who claimed to have studied in local schools, being natives of Assam. Whenever I asked them to read a poster/signboard printed in Assamese, they could not - they had no clue; obviously, they were Bangladeshi illegals. Later as CO of my battalion in 2004, I was tasked to prepare a presentation on security threats and consulted a whole lot of literature, intelligence summaries and authoritative books by eminent authors to research on infiltration in areas of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, as also Pakistan’s efforts to export militancy through the Indo-Nepal border. The experiences of Lt Gen SK Sinha, who had been the governor of Assam from Sep 1993 till Apr 1998, and at that time was serving as governor of J&K ( Jun 2003 - Jun 2008), provided a lot of clarity.
His accounts were eye-opening as to how the state governments had been encouraging illegal immigration from Bangladesh over the last many decades and recruiting them as captive vote banks. Another useful publication (amongst many others) was the book by Mr Arun Shourie, ‘Will the Iron Fence Save a Tree Hollowed by termites’, detailing the machinations of Pakistan ISI to foment trouble in India.
It is also worth remembering that Bangladesh had completely come under Pakistan’s spell during the regimes of Begum Khaleda Zia between 1991-96 and 2001-2006. Later, while writing my MPhil thesis on ‘International Terrorism and Implications for India’ in 2007, I was able to see a continuing trend of external enemies undermining our security and own political parties turning willing co-conspirators for selfish power games. I noticed the same many times during my tenure as GOC of a Sub Area looking after almost whole of North East in 2017-18. Coming back to the present turmoil, the air is surcharged (or sir-charged) with uncertainty for the Bangladesh nationals staying illegally.
There are reports of emptying out of slums around Kolkata, panic in areas around the Siliguri corridor and even a shortage of maids/domestic staff in Gurugram, among other cities. While on the border, BSF check posts are having their hands full in dealing with an extraordinary exodus.
In the specific context of West Bengal, it will be worthwhile to recollect that the issue of enclaves was left simmering after the Land Boundary Agreement of 1974. It was finally resolved by the LBA Protocol of 2011, and exchange was completed four years later, when on 31 Jul 2015 India transferred 111 enclaves to Bangladesh and in turn received 54.
Effective border guarding is difficult due to low-lying terrain, unpredictable water bodies, swamps and unfenced stretches. These infirmities permit unchecked infiltration and facilitate illegal trade, including the smuggling of drugs, cattle and other contrabands. Reluctance has been shown by state governments in providing land for border fencing.
Out of the total Bangladesh border of 2261 km with West Bengal, as informed to Lok Sabha by MHA on 20 Aug 2025, 569 km remains unfenced. Land is yet to be acquired for nearly 230 km - more than 10 years after the last of the boundary issue of enclaves was finally resolved and border alignment finalised! This delay, to my mind, is nothing short of a deliberate inaction to keep the pipeline for illegal immigration open.
While the illegal immigrants are detrimental for the national security, law & order situation, as also are a significant economic burden, there is another far more grave impact on our society. This captive illegal vote bank provides an assured majority to their benefactors, who in turn disregard ethical governing principles and focus on using their dominance to fill personal and party coffers. Creation of illegal and committed vote banks facilitates incontestable power, which leads to institutionalisation of corruption. This is the termite eating us from within, which is used by our detractors (from within and without) to damage our national security, economy and geopolitical interests. A strong, credible and truly representative opposition is a must for a vibrant democracy. That can manifest only when genuine citizens vote their preference and aliens are prevented from vitiating our election process.
If we look objectively, this SIR is a long overdue and very essential process set in motion by the ECI under constitutional mandate. It is an utmost necessity for cleansing out illegals usurping our state resources and creating many other problems, apart from casting a shadow of illegitimacy to the whole government formation in concerned states. I am perplexed by the negativity being spread by the opposition parties against this exercise. All types of delay tactics are being employed, including approaching the Supreme Court to scuttle it. To my mind, any and all cases of neglect or malefic removal of some names from the voters’ list can be reported and resolved to the satisfaction of all through an established process. I fail to understand why this due process is not acceptable to the opposition. Why not follow it logically and resolve issues objectively?
In effect, it seems to be false and malicious propaganda - evidence of which is the absence of any appeal against the SIR exercise conducted in Bihar prior to the assembly elections, the results having been announced and accepted. Reasoning being given against this exercise in West Bengal - that it is unplanned, that there is no time before assembly elections in March- April 2026, that it is targeting Muslim voters and that it has led to some suicides; appear to be farcical and sweeping statements aimed to create confusion. Aberrations, if any, can be rectified and must not sully the overall process. The Special Intensive Revision is a very welcome step towards strengthening our democracy and to effectively counter the half-front war we are facing every day, which is being waged from within, facilitated in a very large measure by illegal voters who are not citizens of India. No doubt the vigil is going to be long, but it’s good that it has started and as they say, ‘ better late than never!’
Balraj Mehta is a Major General and has been decorated with Sena Medal; views are personal
