General Bipin Rawat (Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via GettyImages) 
General Bipin Rawat (Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via GettyImages)  
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Pakistan, China Planned Bangladeshi Immigration Into Northeast: COAS Bipin Rawat

BySwarajya Staff

Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Bipin Rawat has said that Pakistan and China were behind the immigration of Bangladeshi’s into India’s northeast, in order to fuel a demographic shift. Addressing a seminar organised by the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) and the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) on the topic of the Northeast, he compared the growth of the Jan Sangh and Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), stating that the latter was growing at a much faster pace.

I don’t think that you can change the population dynamics of this area. If it was five districts, 8 to 9 the inversion has taken place whichever be the government, there is a party called AIDUF. If you look at it, they have grown at a faster time frame than with the BJP grew over the years. When we talk of Jan Sangh with two members of parliament and where they have reached, the AIDUF at a faster pace in the state of Assam. Finally, what will be the state of Assam, we have to take a call.
General Bipin Rawat

Hinting at Assam turning into a demographically-skewed state like Jammu and Kashmir, he cautions against the rise of radical Islam from across the border. He then explains that the immigration of Bangladeshi’s into India’s northeastern states was primarily due to the lack of space and flooding in the neighbouring country, but at the same time, was fuelled by Pakistan and China, in what he calls a “proxy war”.

And the other issue is a planned immigration that is taking place because of our western neighbours. They will always try and ensure that this area is taken over to playing the proxy dimension of warfare. You have to counteract a stronger nation with conventional operations, so you play a proxy game. And this proxy game is played well by our western neighbour, supported also by our Northern neighbour. So to that extent, to keep this area disturbed we will continue to see some sort of migration happening. But I think the solution lies in identifying the problem and holistically looking at it, looking at it in perspective but development is the main issue. Identifying the people of this area with the population of the mainland becomes important.
General Bipin Rawat

You can watch the whole video here.