Abstract
Estimations of the numbers of Bangladeshi nationals living in India have been a contested arena, both because of the continuity of the process—which started early after Partition—and because of the mostly illegal nature of the migration. Also, the determination of the immigrants’ original communities is virtually impossible because of the similarities among the masses of people across the borders. The around 5000-km-long porous natural border between India and Bangladesh has provided easy passage to local populations, while presenting a monumental challenge to the two states to protect the borders from transgressors and enforce regulations on the border population. So the interpretation of the numbers has not been neutral; the numbers have been interpreted in a manner suitable to their arguments both by these two states and by other actors. The Indian state regards the illegal migration of Bangladeshi nationals to Indian soil as a major contentious issue involving the economy, culture, security, and politics. On the other hand, Bangladesh denies any such migration at all. This difference has had serious implications for the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, forcing them to become pawns in the callous hands of the two states. The historical process of voluntary migration in this region has been opposed by cartographical innovations originated by the colonial masters of these states to meet the demands of competing nations. This has resulted in serious limitations on the livelihood possibilities of the people across borders.
This chapter attempts to provide an analysis of the dynamics of migration from Bangladesh to India and to estimate the migration flow through the provision of some authentic quantitative data, obtained from the sources available in public doamin; a projection for the near future is also provided. An effort has also been made to define the pattern of migration through the qualitative analysis of secondary public sourced infomation and surveyed data. A field study was undertaken to validate the quantitative findings. Statistical tests were performed to test the validity of the data and to provide future projections. These findings, we trust, will help the two states to take policy decisions and mitigate the sufferings of the millions of people who cross the border illegally in search of a better livelihood.
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- 1.
Weiner, Myron. (1983, June). “The Political Demography of Assam’s Anti-Immigrants Movement”. Population and Development Review 9:2. p. 282. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1973053 (Accessed on 30 April 2018).
Also see Baral, Lok Raj. (1990). Regional Migration, Ethnicity and Security: The South Asian Case, New Delhi: Sterling Pub. (P) Ltd. p. 22.
- 2.
Ibid, p. 283
- 3.
Borooah, Vani Kant. (2013, Jan 26). “The Killing Fields of Assam”. EPW. Vol. XLVIII, no 4, pp. 43–53.
- 4.
- 5.
http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/bangladesh-population/ (accessed on 2 May 2018).
- 6.
Gender Statistics of Bangladesh 2012. (2013, June), Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Planning Division, Ministry of Planning, Govt. of the People of Bangladesh. pp. 8–10.) (http://www.bbs.gov.bd/WebTestApplication/userfiles/Image/Health_Demo/Gender_Statistics.pdf. Accessed on 10–12–15. Also see SVRS 2010. (2011, Oct). Dhaka: BBS. pp. 30–34.
- 7.
The data taken for the period 2001–2010 is still relevant as the data represents the situation of a decade and is indicative of a specific trend for the middle age population. The addition of subsequent years would just verify the projection table outcome. Trends will remain the same. We used this the decadal Table 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3 to identify the hidden trend, which is very clear from this period as well.
- 8.
This conclusion is based on the analogy of the percentage population sex ratio. The sex ratio is positive in the early age and late age populations, indicating more males than females. But in the middle age category the sex ratio is reversed for all the locations; i.e., national, urban, and rural. Logically this can only happen if there is a sudden large surge of the male population of middle age leaving the country.
- 9.
Gender Statistics of Bangladesh 2010. (2011, Oct). Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, (Dhaka: Planning Division, Ministry of Planning, Govt. of the People of Bangladesh. p. 11). (http://www.bbs.gov.bd/WebTestApplication/userfiles/Image/SubjectMatterDataIndex/statisticsbook.pdf. Accessed on 10–12–15. Also see SVRS 2010, Dhaka: BBS, 2011.
- 10.
See Gor, Ravi Mahendra. (2014) “Forecasting Techniques” Ahmadabad: (National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), pp. 144–48. http://nsdl.niscair.res.in/jspui/bitstream/123456789/829/1/CHAPTER-6%20FORECASTING%20TECHNIQUES-%20Formatted.pdf
- 11.
Jahangir, B. K. (1977, Dec). “Nature of class struggle in Bangladesh”. Economic and Political Weekly. pp. 2063–66.
- 12.
Cited in Samaddar, Ranbir. (1999). The Marginal Nation: Trans-border Migration from Bangladesh to West Bengal, New Delhi: Sage. p. 153.
- 13.
Homer-Dixon, Thomas (1994). “Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases”, International Security, 19(1).
- 14.
Alam, Safraj (2003, July–Sept).“Environmentally Induced Migration from Bangladesh to India”, Strategic Analysis, Vol. 27, No. 3.
- 15.
Lin, Sharat G. and Paul, Madan C. (1995, Jan–March). “Bangladeshi Migrants in Delhi: Social Insecurity, State Power, and Captive Vote Banks”, BCAS, vol. 27, No. 1. (www.bcasnet.org accessed on 11/07/12).
- 16.
Ibid, p. 5. (The same opinion has been given by a senior Professor of Delhi University (native of undivided Bengal) in conversation with the lead author.)
- 17.
Ibid, p. 5.
- 18.
Banerjee, Paula (Banerjee 2012a, b, Feb 12). “Chronicles of trafficking”. The Hindu. Also see, Bangladesh: Across the Bengal-Bangladesh Borderland: Chronicles of Trafficking. (2012, Feb 13). The Hindu.(www.readperiodicals.com/201202/2605266731.html accessed on April/5/2013)
Also see, Banerjee, Paula. ed. (Banerjee 2012a, b) Women in Indian Borderlands, Kolkata: Sage.
- 19.
Chaudhuri, Maitrayee. (2005). “Betwixt the State and Everyday Life: Identity Formation among Bengali Migrants in a Delhi Slum”, In: Thapan, Meenakshi. ed. (2005) Transnational Migration and the Politics of Identity. New Delhi: Sage.
- 20.
Sainath, P. (2011, Sept 25 & 26) “Census Finding Points to Decade of Rural Distress”. The Hindu. op-ed.
- 21.
See Economic Survey of India, (2012–2013). New Delhi: Publication Division.
- 22.
Ghosh, Partha S. (2004) Unwanted and Uprooted: A Political Study of Migrants, Refugees, Stateless and Displaced of South Asia, New Delhi: SAMASKRITI. p. 4.
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Nath, A., Vishal, V. (2019). Migration Matters: Estimation and Analysis of Migration from Bangladesh to India. In: Uddin, N., Chowdhory, N. (eds) Deterritorialised Identity and Transborder Movement in South Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2778-0_10
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