While Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Monday termed Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s revelation about the Centre’s controversial suggestion to states to set up detention centres for illegal Bangladeshi immigrants as “not true”, official records obtained by The Indian Express contradict his claims.

Minutes of the meetings of the Nodal Authority, under the chairmanship of Union Home Secretary on January 24, 2007 and April 25, 2007, to review the progress of detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi migrants, clearly show that the Centre wanted the states to set up detention centers for illegal immigrants.

The Rajasthan Chief Minister has reacted strongly to Patil’s comment on Monday that perhaps she was “shaken” after the blast and what she was saying was “not true”. Patil had also said, “We are not happy with her behaviour...Our country is not a monarchy. It is a democracy.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, Raje said: “Why is Union Home Minister trivializing this? Why is he diverting the issue? The main issue is a uniform, comprehensive approach to terrorism. This is a democratic set-up. We are not recalcitrant children and you are not our headmaster. The Union Home Minister talking of samantshahi is like the pot calling the kettle black.”

According to the minutes of the January 24, 2007 meeting, the Centre had stated, “State Governments should, in a time-bound manner, set up Detention Centres as per their requirement for detention of illegal migrants pending their deportation to the country of their origin.” It added that the expenditure for setting up and running the detention centres should be borne by the state governments.

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