Odisha law minister Prithviraj Harichandan on Sunday rejected TMC MP Yusuf Pathan’s allegations that Muslims from Bengal are being targeted in the state, asserting that the government is only acting against illegal migrants.
Pathan had written to Union home minister Amit Shah on May 2, alleging that systematic violence was being perpetrated against Muslim workers from Bengal in Odisha, forcing many to return home.
“The Odisha government is not deporting Muslims. We are only acting against those staying illegally—migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh without valid documents. No member of the Muslim community has been affected,” Harichandan said. “We will deport only those who are residing here without legal status.”
In the last week of April, around 40 workers from Malda returned from Sambalpur after allegedly being threatened and abused. A complaint was later lodged with Chanchal police in Malda, stating they were targeted for being from Bengal.
Urging Shah to intervene, Pathan wrote in his letter: “The systematic targeting of workers from West Bengal, especially those from the Muslim community, based on their regional identity, is deeply troubling… These acts violate the principles of unity, integrity and fraternity enshrined in our Constitution.”