Letter to BS: Concern for immigrants cannot outweigh national security

I agree with your editorial “Don’t repeat the mistake” (September 17) that the issue of citizenship shouldn't be subjected to casual and petty political considerations. However, due care has to be taken about realities such as capacities of our land, number of available jobs and the limitations of our social fabric. 

The idea of welcoming every single person who crosses over into India is noble but who will create resources required to accommodate lakhs of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas? Compassion and empathy for desperate, persecuted people have to be supported by practical considerations. We cannot absorb unlimited number of migrants and provide everyone with infinite benefits. And new immigrants do not create jobs as "champagne socialists" would have us believe.

If people are voting for Adityanath and Manohar Lal Khattar, it's because the issue of unchecked migration from across our borders and resultant crime, religious fanaticism and unemployment have not been addressed with the seriousness which it deserved by the then ruling dispensation at the Centre.

Faults, discrepancies or shortcomings of the Supreme Court monitored National Register of Citizens process cannot be an excuse to stop identifying and deporting illegal people. If anything, the process needs to be made more efficient and error-free. The concern for stateless people cannot be an argument against national security.

Ajay Tyagi, New Delhi

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