NEW DELHI: Home minister Amit Shah will chair a conference of superintendents of police (SPs) of border districts here on Thursday, which will discuss issues like infiltration, illegal immigration, unnatural demographic changes and their impact on security and law and order, besides the threats from drones and narcotics trafficking.The meeting comes in the backdrop of the Narendra Modi govt’s intensified drive against illegal immigration, seen by it as part of an orchestrated design to alter the demography of districts adjoining the international border with Bangladesh.The SPs of border states like J&K, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, UP, Bihar, West Bengal and the north-eastern states are expected to share their concerns in this regard and brainstorm the likely solutions.A high-level committee was set up by the Centre a couple of months ago to assess the extent of demographic changes occurring in various parts of the country and the underlying factors including illegal immigration, abnormal settlement patterns and orchestrated migration. It will also analyse the structural population shifts at the level of religious and social communities.Shah has over the past few months proactively visited border regions and held meetings with the district magistrates and SPs there, to push them to assess the pattern of illegal immigration and the resulting demographic shifts. He has instructed them to demolish any illegal structures in the border districts, as many of these are known to serve as centres of radicalisation or harbour illegal immigrants before they are facilitated by touts with identity documents based on forged papers.Among the other matters that are likely to come up for discussion at the border district SP conference are proper development and welfare of citizens residing in border districts, as they act as a buffer against enemy activity and incursions. The threat of drones, which carry both arms and narcotics from Pakistan as payloads, will also be discussed. The review of progress in the erection of fencing on the Indo-Bangladesh border, particularly in stretches of West Bengal, is also on the agenda.
