At the centre of the political storm is the Rajasthan home minister, Gulab Singh Shaktawat, who told the press last week that the government has decided to deport the illegal immigrants. The announcement came in the wake of an incident on August 5 when policemen in Jaipur were injured in clashes with residents of Gopalbari, a slum cluster of illegal Bangladeshi migrants.
The minister subsequently announced that a survey will be carried out by the district collectors of Jaipur and Ajmer to identify their exact number, and then they would be deported in a phased manner. The involvement of the Bangladeshis in criminal activities was cited as a major reason for their repatriation.