Ahmedabad, May 5: Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil on Monday claimed that the administration knew about the presence of illegal Bangladeshi nationals in Ahmedabad’s Chandola lake area but failed to take action all these years due to vested interests.
Talking to media persons, Gohil demanded action against officials who allowed illegal construction to crop up on government land near the lake.
He said the BJP government must provide alternative accommodation and support to those poor Indians whose houses were razed during the recent demolition drive.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and city police had carried out a massive anti-encroachment drive near Chandola lake, pulling down nearly 2000 structures after the detention of illegal Bangladeshi nationals from the area.
The detention of nearly 180 Bangladeshi nationals, who had been living illegally in the Chandola lake area for years, soon after the Pahalgam terror attack, shows that the administration was well aware of their existence but did not take action due to vested interests, Gohil said.
“Who is responsible for so many Bangladeshi nationals settling in Ahmedabad and living for so long? The BJP is in power in Gujarat and the Centre, but never carried out any investigation in this regard all these years,” he said.
This is a big question mark concerning national security, he said.
The now-arrested alleged mastermind behind the encroachment on government land at Chandola lake was protected by the BJP for “working against Congress”, claimed Gohil.
“The BJP provided shelter to the mastermind of the illegal encroachment for its own interest. The mastermind helped the BJP during elections by acting against the Congress, he said.
The Congress leader said the BJP did not care whether the residents at Chandola were Hindus, Muslims or Bangladeshis. “For political benefit, the BJP shelters criminal elements, and this is the direct proof of it,” he said.
He said that the local Congress counsellor had in 2021 and 2023 written to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) seeking action against the mastermind and two others for carrying out encroachment and illegal construction in the area.
Gohil said the Congress stands with the poor affected by the anti-encroachment drive in the lake area and will offer support in their legal fight if they go for it.
“We are with the government over national interest and national unity. But as responsible opposition, we will raise questions. My first question is, why was no action taken against these illegal Bangladeshi nationals in the past? Because such a swift action against them soon after the Pahalgam terrorist attack shows that the administration knew of their presence,” Gohil said.
Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, were killed in cold blood by terrorists near Pahalgam in the Anantnag district of south Kashmir on April 22.
“Just to hide your failure, you are taking action against poor Indians. We cannot turn a blind eye to this inhuman activity of running bulldozers on the houses of the poor and cutting their power and water supplies,” said the Congress leader.
He said that the poor were allowed by certain officials to construct houses in the area for money and votes. These people include Hindus, Dalits and Muslims, he said.
The Congress leader demanded action against the officials who allowed poor people to construct houses in the lake area.
He urged the government to follow due process, including issuing notices, providing alternative accommodation, and offering support, before demolishing their houses, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s guidelines to uphold the principle of natural justice. (PTI)
