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The arrest of a militant of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) from Kollam by the Military Intelligence (MI) is the fourth such incident reported in one year, wherein members of the outlawed organisation were nabbed in the State. With the Assam Police confirming that the man arrested by the MI-Thiruvananthapuram unit is a member of the Songbijit faction of the NDFB, it is time for the State Police to keep a watchful eye on the migrant population. The MI is of the opinion that Kerala is fast turning into a safe haven for activists of terror organisations. “While it is the second time we are taking an NDFB activist into custody from Kollam, it is too early to say that the place is their favourite hideout. There are many factors that make the whole of Kerala a safe haven for insurgents. In the case of Dimga, who was arrested from Kozhikode in November 2015, he was a head-load worker at the time of the arrest. While the majority of the migrant labourers come to Kerala to earn a living, extremists and criminals infiltrate under the guise of workers into the State, where migrant workers are of high demand due to the low wages,” said an MI official. The fact that the person taken into custody from Ashramam in Kollam on June 23 was working in a brick factory, substantiates the MI’s view. Similarly, two persons arrested in February 2015 for suspected links with the NDFB (S), who were also wanted for a massacre occurred in December 2014 in Assam, were working in a cashew factory. The Intelligence Wing nabbed Lidion Basumatari alias Dimga, the Assam state organising secretary of the NDFM (S), from Kozhikode in November 2015 in a major operation. These cases once again emphasises on the need to maintain a database of migrant labourers, which is being discussed with verve after the gruesome murder of Jisha. Though Labour Minister T P Ramakrishnan informed the Assembly that the government would soon roll out a project to prepare a databank of migrant labourers, some officials have pointed out that migrant labourers are also Indian citizens who have the Constitutional right to work in any part of the country without any fear or discrimination. So, preparation of such a database might be questioned. “The police is of the opinion that local bodies are the most appropriate agencies to do the job. Data collection can be done by launching welfare schemes or healthcare programmes. The Labour Department can play a crucial role in the process by urging various industries, contractors and manpower agencies to furnish details of the migrant labourers employed by them,” said a top official in the Police Department, and lauded the programme undertaken by the Kollam Rural Police in this regard. On July 1, Kollam Rural SP Ajitha Begum directed the rural police stations to prepare database of migrant labourers, using the Universal Brotherhood Safety Management System. “Crimes involving migrant labourers are on a steady increase in the State. In addition to criminal cases, they are also found to be involved in NDPS cases. The data collected under the project will be recorded with the District Crime Records Bureau. In the first phase, we will collect fingerprints and photographs of the migrant workers. Later, ID cards would be distributed among them, if needed,” said Ajitha begum. The Punalur police station is the first in the State to start collection of data on migrant labourers - in February 2013.
Keywords
National Democratic Front, Bodoland, Kollam, Military Intelligence, Assam, Thiruvananthapuram, migrant population, Kerala, safe haven, low wages, ID cards, migrant labourers, criminal cases
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