The Government faced flak from both sides of the House in Lok Sabha, with the BJP demanding tough measures to deport illegal migrants from Bangladesh, and Congress and Left MPs complaining against police harassment of Bengali-speaking people who were bonafide Indian citizens. BJP MPs V.K. Malhotra and Kashiram Rana wanted to know the number of infiltrators in 2004, and illegal migrants who had overstayed their visas. MoS for Home Affairs S. Reghupathy said the Government had ‘‘no specific details’’ on the magnitude of illegal immigration to India. Malhotra then said the country had been turned into a ‘‘dharamshala’’. Rupchand Pal (CPI-M) asked if the Government was aware that Bengali-speaking people who worked in states like Maharashtra were ‘‘harassed’’. ‘Inflation is a concern’ While disagreeing with the BJP-led Opposition’s ‘‘grim picture’’ of the economy vis-a-vis price rise, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram admitted inflation was indeed a ‘‘problem’’, but was being closely monitored by the Government. Replying to a discussion on price rise in the Rajya Sabha, Chidambaram insisted the Wholesale Price Index shows an upward trend for only limited number of essential commodities, like bajra, cooking coal, potato, sugar, ground-nut oil and tea, while others on the list remain stable. But he said most of the crude price hike has been absorbed by the oil marketing companies. Let’s talk it out The Government said it preferred a dialogue to force in dealing with terrorists and Naxalites. Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said killings in North-East and Naxal-affected areas had come down since the government started talking to them. ‘‘The situation in the North-East is normalising. That is because the government refused to use force against youths who were angered because of some reasons. We talked to them. And now the killings in Manipur have come down drastically. We are also holding talks with the Naga leaders,’’ he said.
