Why AAP and BJP are hyping immigrant phobia in Delhi

AAP faces battles on several fronts, and in none of them it seems invincible. Hence the cheap politics of hyping up an anti-immigrant sentiment.

Identification of the so-called illegal migrants from Bangladesh and Rohingya refugees has become the latest contentious issue between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The BJP has accused the AAP of settling illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingya refugees in Delhi’s slums to increase its support base. AAP has accused the BJP of large-scale deletions in voter lists in slums and unauthorised colonies.

The Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of Delhi fired the first salvo on December 11, when he ordered a special drive to identify and take action against “illegal immigrants from Bangladesh” residing in Delhi as “demanded by the Muslim community” in the capital. Incidentally, the ‘Muslim leaders’ were from the Nizamuddin Basti in South Delhi but their credentials to represent the Muslim community are thin.

AAP has also tried to competitively claim the same ground against Bangladeshi immigrants.

It has ordered schools run by the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which they control, to identify children of illegal immigrants and deny them admission in the 2025-2026 academic session.

The office order issued by Delhi government’s Deputy Director (Schools) says, ‘Schools must ensure strict admission procedures, verification of students’ documentation to prevent illegal Bangladeshi migrants’ enrolment.’

For good measure, Chief Minister Atishi also included the Rohingya refugees among illegal beneficiaries of school facilities. Her post on ‘X’, says, “Today, the Education Department of the Delhi Government has passed a strict order that no Rohingya should be given admission in the government schools of Delhi. We will not let the rights of the people of Delhi be taken away.”

Merging Rohingyas with illegal Bangladeshi immigrants allows AAP to attack the BJP that had at one time tried to move them into an EWS housing project. In July 2022, then Union urban development minister Hardeep Singh Puri had announced that the government intended to shift the local Rohingya refugees to EWS housing. Facing backlash from Hindutva organisations, the Union home ministry quashed the move.

This incident has given Atishi the opportunity to attack the BJP alleging, “On one side are BJP leaders, who bring Rohingyas to Delhi after making them cross the border from Bangladesh and give them EWS flats and facilities meant for Delhiites. On the other hand, there is the Aam Aadmi Party government of Delhi which is taking every possible step to ensure that the Rohingya do not get the rights of Delhiites.”

Atishi ought to know that ‘illegal migrants’ from Bangladesh and Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are quite different. The Rohingyas are refugees who want to return to Myanmar eventually.

There are only about 1,100 Rohingya refugees in Delhi. Assuming that one-third of them are school-going children, they would number 367. The Delhi government runs 1,250 schools, the MCD 1,535 and the New Delhi Municipal Corporation 47 — in all 2,382 schools.

The Rohingya refugees live mainly in four police-monitored slum clusters — Madanpur Khadar, Shaheen Bagh, Khajoori Khas, and Vikaspuri. They do the lowest paid jobs ranging from garbage sorting to rickshaw pulling. It is near these neighbourhoods that their children need education access. In the past, they have been given school admission based on UNHCR Refugee Cards and sworn affidavits about their status.

When admission was refused to some Rohingya children in Khajuri Khas, a local NGO wrote to the government to allow them free and compulsory education under existing laws. Finding the Centre unresponsive, a PIL was moved before the Delhi High Court, which was dismissed. An appeal is now pending in the Supreme Court.

As for the number of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, by December 24, the Delhi Police had identified only about 1,000 of them through a door-to-door survey. How many of their children are school-going is unclear.

The verification drive asking suspects for documents to prove their Indian origins is likely to create problems for Indians from West Bengal as well as UNHCR-recognised Rohingya refugees. Also, unless one has a specific number for children of illegal immigrants seeking school admissions in Delhi, it will remain unclear how much of a ‘burden’ they are on Delhi’s resources.

At the end of the day, the battle in Delhi is about creating a series of vote-catching narratives. Fanning anti-immigration sentiment is one of them.

AAP is locked in a battle of survival in Delhi which goes to polls in February. Its government faces 10 years of anti-incumbency and the burden of unfulfilled election promises.

From experience of handing out free public utilities (electricity, water, transport), AAP leader and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal knows that announcing free services before elections can consolidate voters. That is why he had kick-started his election campaign by announcing the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojna to non-tax-paying women and free medical treatment to those over the age of 60 under the Sanjeevani Yojna. These are post-poll schemes. However, by asking people to register for them now, Kejriwal is hoping to commit them to AAP’s re-election.

The L-G, has, however, put a spoke in the wheel. The Department of Women and Child Development and the Health and Family Welfare Department that come under him published unprecedented newspaper ads denouncing the two schemes as fraudulent and non-existent.

The confrontation underlines the intensity of the political competition in Delhi. The BJP is loath to see AAP thumbing its nose at it in the national capital even when it is winning overwhelming majorities elsewhere. The erosion in the image of Kejriwal, facing trials in a money laundering case and corruption charges, makes it a good time to mount a challenge.

Also, Kejriwal’s bid is weakened by his being on bail and forbidden to sign any file or enter the secretariat. He has also not projected Atishi as the next chief minister.

The third contender in Delhi, the Congress, seems much better prepared this time around to take on Kejriwal. So Kejriwal faces battles on several fronts, and in none of them he seems invincible. Hence the cheap politics of hyping up an anti-immigrant sentiment.

(Bharat Bhushan is a New Delhi-based journalist)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.