Over 100 migrants have returned home in Tufanganj, Cooch Behar, by hiring a bus to evade alleged police torture in Gurgaon.
The migrant workers who reached their native places on Tuesday are, however, worried about how they will run their families.
“I used to stay with my wife at a slum in Gurgaon. There, I had around 30 shanties, which I used to lease out to migrant workers from Bengal. They used to work as cleaning staff in the local apartments. Altogether, I could make around ₹40,000 to ₹50,000 a month,” said Mafijul Haque, a resident of Dhadhial-Ghatpar village of Tufanganj who returned home with others.
Fazlila Bibi, his wife, used to work as a housemaid and earn around ₹20,000 a month.
“We were forced to return home because the harassment and torture by the police had increased. We are detained without any reason and branded as Bangladeshis and had to pay bribes on many occasions for our release,” Haque added.
The migrant worker, however, is worried about how he will run his family.
“Whatever little agricultural land we had was gobbled up by the Torsha river. As a day wage labourer here, I don’t think I will earn even half of what I used to in Haryana. That is why I am waiting for the situation to improve despite the insecurity. Once the harassment stops, my wife and I will return to Gurgaon,” said the distressed
migrant worker.
On August 3, the workers hired a bus for ₹2.35 lakh to reach Tufanganj from Gurgaon. Altogether, 103 workers, both men and women, returned home along with their children on the afternoon of August 5.
Mohammad Suman, who used to clean cars at the apartments in Gurgaon, said he and his wife, who worked as a cook, could earn around ₹50,000 a month.
“In the past few weeks, the police picked up many Bengali-speaking migrants in Gurgaon. They are claiming that we are Bangladeshis and our documents are incorrect. That is why we have returned home, fearing detention and torture,” he said, sitting at his home in Tufanganj.
Like Mafijul, Suman is equally worried about how he will earn a living. “Our parents and other family members depend on our earnings. We cannot afford to sit at home. The wages in the agricultural or construction sectors here are much lower than what we used to earn. I don’t find much of an alternative other than to go to other states for a job and better earnings,” he said.
Injured at home
Momin Mian, a migrant worker from Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar, has returned with injuries from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh after the police there allegedly beat him up in public for speaking in Bengali.
Momin, who reached Cooch Behar by train on Wednesday night with his wife, is under treatment at the MJN Medical College & Hospital.
“We have been staying in Ghaziabad for four years and used to work as day wage workers,” he said.
A police team picked Momim up on Sunday. They started questioning him and alleged that he is a Bangladeshi.
“While on the way to the police station, I told them that just because I speak Bengali, they had apprehended me. This irked the policemen, who started beating me inside the vehicle. After some time, the vehicle stopped, and I was thrashed in public and pushed onto the road. They also snatched whatever cash I had with me,” said Momin.
After reaching home, he was admitted to the hospital.
“We are providing food grains and other necessary materials to his family. He needs proper treatment as there are multiple injury marks on his body,” said Tapan Kumar Guha, the Sitalkuchi block president of Trinamool.
Later in the day, Abhijit De Bhowmik, the district Trinamool president, went to the hospital and met Momin.
“Tomorrow, a complaint will be filed at the Sitalkuchi police station against the police who tortured Momin. We will also stage a demonstration in Sitalkuchi in protest against the atrocities unleashed by the police of the BJP-ruled states on the Bengali-speaking migrant workers,” said Bhowmik.