Won’t allow demographic change through influx: Amit Shah

GUWAHATI: A “smart border” pilot project integrating technology, local administrative resources and security forces will be launched simultaneously at seven to eight locations across the country’s frontiers soon, Union home minister Amit Shah announced Friday, signalling the Centre’s intent to do whatever it takes to prevent demographic change through India’s borders.

“Whether it is Tripura, Bengal or Bihar, we will not allow demographic change through cross-border infiltration. This is our firm belief and resolve,” Shah told BSF troopers at the Lankamura border outpost.





He said the idea of having smart borders to complement fencing was part of a “quadrilateral security strategy” to make India’s frontiers impregnable. “The concept is in the final stage of planning. Any initial challenges encountered will be addressed, after which the initiative will be scaled to cover the entire border network.”

In Tripura, ringed by Bangladesh from the north, south and west, Shah said govt had approved a project to replace 119km out of approximately 650km of fencing that is more than 15 years old.

He said the country was contending with multiple threats to internal security along the Bangladesh and Pakistan borders. “Somewhere there is drug smuggling; elsewhere there is human trafficking or drones dropping counterfeit currency,” he said.

Shah linked the increased focus on border security to PM Narendra Modi’s vision of transforming India into a fully developed country by 2047. “If that is to be achieved, the biggest necessity is for us to become a secure country. When I say ‘secure’, I do not talk about there being very big threats from any war. But can we make the country secure from smuggling? Can we make it secure from human trafficking? Can we make the country’s youth secure from drugs? Can we save the country’s economy from the proliferation of fake currency?” he said.

Shah’s visit to the Tripura frontier follows tours of the western borders in Rajasthan and Gujarat. He is likely to visit the border in Bengal on June 15. IB director Tapan Deka accompanied him to the outpost.

Meanwhile, at an online event, Shah inaugurated new accommodation at BSF’s 37th Battalion and a Quarter Guard complex project at the 97th Battalion.