SILCHAR, Nov 24: The increasing Muslim population along the areas bordering India and Bangladesh is a matter of grave concern. Long stretches of border in Assam still remain porous, on grounds inexplicable, leading to unabated infiltration from Bangladesh.
According to the border survey reports of the Union Home Ministry, the five border districts of Assam –– Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Dhubri and Goalpara –– have registered an abnormal rise in the Muslim population and a considerable decline in the non-Muslim population.
It was also reported that the Muslim population in Cachar district during the last decade rose by 24.6 per cent as against 16 per cent growth of the Hindu population. In Karimganj, the growth of Muslim population is 29.4 per cent as against 14.5 per cent of the Hindu population.
The demographic change is more glaring in Dhubri district which has recorded a 29.5 per cent rise in the Muslim population as against 7.1 per cent in the Hindu population. In Goalpara district, the upswing in the Muslim population is 31.7 per cent and that in the Hindu population is 14.4 per cent.
Sources said that indications available from intelligence sources about reports on the decadal growth of population for 2001-2010 would be more alarming. Intelligence agencies monitoring developments in the border areas have also noted an unusual increase in the number of mosques and madrassas along the border with Bangladesh, which, according to them, are an index of growth of the Muslim population, the sources said, and added that most of the mosques and madrassas in the border areas were under the surveillance of intelligence agencies.
On the other hand, the census report of Bangladesh (2001) records a decline in its projected population. The question is: Where has the missing population gone? THE SENTINEL
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