AHMEDABAD: The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, L.K. Advani, on Friday cautioned the country of yet another threat of division because of the "unchecked invasion of the Bangladeshis." He described as "hypocritical, dishonest and misleading" the pronouncements of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the illegal immigrants issue in Assam.

Talking to media persons before beginning the second day of his `Bharat Suraksha Yatra,' which took him through central Gujarat to Vadodara, Mr. Advani said Dr. Singh and Ms. Gandhi had made identical statements during their election campaign in Assam. They had said there would be no compromise on the illegal foreigners issue but sounded insincere in their efforts.

Mr. Advani said that while there could be no harassment of Indian Muslim citizens in Assam, there could be "zero compromise" on the Bangladeshi Muslims virtually "invading the country" through the Assam and West Bengal borders. Instead of making sincere efforts to check the "foreign invasion," the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government was trying to give protection to the infiltrators "for the sake of its vote bank."

He said the "invasion" continued even during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime when he was Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, but the difference was that the NDA Government had made "earnest efforts to stop the illegal immigration."

He said the country had the right to know whether Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia had given any concrete assurance to stop the infiltration when she visited India recently. He said that during his meeting with Begum Zia he had told her there could be no end to the tension between the two countries unless the Bangladesh Government came out of the "denial mode" and accepted the reality of illegal immigration.

Dr. Singh and Ms. Gandhi, he said, were trying to make out that the real problem in Assam was the alleged harassment and deportation of genuine Indian Muslims. It was a mere "deceptive ruse" to hide the Government's total unwillingness to tackle the problem, he said.

A betrayal

Pointing out that official figures at different times had shown the presence of Bangaladeshi immigrants at over 1.20 crore, Mr. Advani said there could "scarcely be a bigger betrayal of the Indian nation that just to create a captive vote bank, a party and a Government will jeopardise our national unity and national security."

On terrorism, Mr. Advani regretted the "less aggressive attitude" of the UPA Government. The alleged involvement of Bangladesh-based terrorists in the Varanasi bomb blast was a matter of great concern. He said he had been told that Dr. Singh had handed over a list of 72 terrorist training camps in Bangladesh to Begum Zia.

The Bangladesh Government must be made to dismantle the training camps immediately, he said.

Mr. Advani declined to comment on the return of Sanjay Joshi as BJP general secretary, nor did he want to discuss the role of the RSS and the VHP in the affairs of the Sangh Parivar. "Each has its own role to play."

Office of profit issue

His party would consider on merit the amendment to the office of profit clause if the draft bill did not undermine the rationale behind Articles 102 and 103.

About the Human Resources Development Ministry's proposal for OBC reservation in Central universities and the IIMs and IITs, he said his party would address the issue at an appropriate time.

Compared to Thursday's lacklustre show, Mr. Advani's yatra attracted a better response on Friday while passing through the once Congress-dominated central Gujarat districts.

"Political education"

Even the late-night public meeting in Ahmedabad on Thursday held in the predominantly Hindu residential locality of Vasna in his own parliamentary constituency of Gandhinagar was a flop show. Mr. Advani, however, said he was "overwhelmed" by the response.

He said the yatra for "political education" of the people on the threat perception to national security in the UPA regime could not be as controversial as his Ram rath yatra in 1990.

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