India needs to prove that illegal immigrants in NE states are B'deshis: Gowher Rizvi

Gowher Rizvi, the special advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Friday said India needed to prove that the illegal immigrants in the north-eastern states were indeed Bangladeshis.

The controversy over illegal immigrants in the north-eastern states has emerged as a major issue and some of the states have demanded a National Register of Citizens (NRC) on the lines of Assam.

"At present, they (people whose names are not there in the NRC list) are residents of India and India should prove that they are residents of Bangladesh, not India," Rizvi, also a historian, said at an interactive session at the "India Today Conclave - East" here.

On the issue of the Rohingyas, he said, "We should distinguish between the Rohingyas and the illegal immigrants in north-east India. The two cases are entirely different."
The Rohingyas, Rizvi said, were persecuted and deliberately thrown out of Myanmar as a part of ethnic cleansing, adding, "It is not acceptable."
Asked about the chances of Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League in the coming general election in Bangladesh, Rizvi said, "We have established democracy and have thrown the military regime out. Elections are predictable, but even with such a fantastic economic and political record, we cannot comment that we will win."