Mamata's Border Outburst

With heightened scrutiny of West Bengal's border security following arrests of alleged terror operatives over the past fortnight, the heated debate over "illegal migration" from Bangladesh has undergone a curious rhetorical inversion.

- By Arkamoy Datta Majumdar

Stung by the criticism, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary, launched a scathing counter-attack on the Union government and the Border Security Force (BSF).

Their charge: central complicity in allowing illegal immigration from Bangladesh through Bengal's porous borders to "destabilise the state".

After the West Bengal Special Task Force and the Assam Police arrested four suspected terrorists of the outlawed Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) from Murshidabad on December 18 and 30, the opposition BJP has been relentless in accusing the state government of failing to curb illegal immigration. Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari accused the TMC government of hindering the acquisition of land along the Bangladesh border by the BSF for building checkposts and other infrastructure. Union minister and Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar accused Mamata of making Bengal "a safe haven for terrorists".