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Hounded out auto drivers return to Gurgaon due to lack of livelihood opportunities in Bengal

'I stayed at home for about a month but what I earned here was a fifth of my income in Gurgaon. So, we have returned to Gurgaon despite the fears of being tortured again for being Bengali,' Jafar, a native of Kapasia village, said over the phone

The team of migrant workers returning to Gurgaon in their autorickshaws takes a break for food in Bihar on Thursday night. Sourced by the Telegraph

Koushik Sen, Avijit Sen
Published 31.08.25, 06:06 AM

Jafar Ali climbed into his autorickshaw with his wife and two sons on Tuesday and drove 1,500km from his home in North Dinajpur to his place of work, Gurgaon.

With him were 34 other migrant families from Itahar block, all returning to Gurgaon where the men earned a living driving autorickshaws they owned or rented. Their convoy of 25 autos from Bengal reached the Haryana city on Saturday morning.

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All 35 families had returned home in July following a spate of detentions — and alleged torture — of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in Haryana and other BJP-ruled states, on suspicion of being Bangladeshis.

But the lack of livelihood opportunities in Bengal began to bite within weeks. So, they decided to go back, preferring the risk of persecution to penury.

“I stayed at home for about a month but what I earned here was a fifth of my income in Gurgaon. So, we have returned to Gurgaon despite the fears of being tortured again for being Bengali,” Jafar, a native of Kapasia village, said over the phone.

The migrant families are from Kapasia, Radhanagar, Kamardanga and a few other villages in Itahar. All of them had been working in Gurgaon for the last 8 to 10 years.

During the pandemic, too, they had returned home for a few months — on trucks.

One of the migrants, Mostaq Alam of Radhanagar, said the Gurgaon police had recently tortured some of them on the pretext of verifying their identities.

“The police summoned some of us, asking us to bring documents to prove we are Indians,” Alam said over the phone from Gurgaon.

“We furnished the documents, and yet were tortured and labelled Bangladeshis. So, we left for our homes in 25 autorickshaws last month.”

Alam added: “After coming home, we realised that we could not even sustain our families with the measly earnings we made here driving autos. So, we have come back to Gurgaon. We hope we won’t face problems
any more.”

Jafar and Alam said they earned at least 1,000 a day in Gurgaon, while in Itahar, they struggled to earn even 200.

“Most of us had taken loans to buy our autos, and we have to pay EMIs of 10,000. Staying back in Itahar would mean we couldn’t even pay our EMIs,” Jafar said.

“Also, most of our wives work as domestic help in Gurgaon and make 10,000 or more every month. Our children are in school. How can we manage with a daily earning of 200?”

Jafar Ali with his family and auto rickshaw in Gurgaon on Saturday.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of “Bengali phobia” over the alleged harassment of the migrants and launched Shramashree, a dole tosupport those who return home because of “language prosecution”.

Under the scheme, each of these workers is to receive 5,000 a month for a year or until they secure new employment in Bengal. In addition, they are to receive a one-off travel allowance of 5,000 on arrival in Bengal from their outstation workplace.

Alam said the scheme wasn’t much help.

“We cannot meet our expenses with a meagre 5,000. If we add it to our average daily earning (200) in Itahar, it’s still not enough. Besides, it’s unclear when and how long we would receive this assistance,” he said.

So, the group left Itahar and drove through Purnia, Muzaffarpur, Lucknow,Agra and Mathura to reach Gurgaon.

“Tomorrow, some of us will drive our autos to different parts of Gurgaon to check whether the problem of police verification persists. If everything goes well, we’ll start plying our autos from Monday,” Dulal Sheikh, also from Kapasia, said.

Sheikh said that this time, each of them was carrying a verification certificate issued by their local police station in Itahar as well as a certificate from the local MLA.

“We believe these documents will help us prove that we are not Bangladeshis,” he said.

Asked about the migrants returning to their workplace despite Mamata’s efforts, Itahar’s Trinamool MLA, Mosharaf Hossain, said the Bengal government continued to stand with people “persecuted in BJP-ruled states for speaking Bengali”.

“We have opened a grievance cell for them in Itahar, and a cell phone app has been launched so they can directly communicate with me. Also, the state has announced a monthly assistance for those who intend to return,” he said.

“If, despite this, any migrant worker wants to go back to their workplace for higher earnings, it’s their prerogative. We have nothing to say about it.”

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