Four migrant workers from Murshidabad left their workplace of many years in an Odisha town on Tuesday, forced to return to their village in Bengal after local police allegedly labelled them “Bangladeshis” and “Rohingya”.
The men, all Muslims, were given a 72-hour ultimatum on November 27 to leave Odagaon in Nayagarh district, and accused of “draining India’s resources” — despite holding valid Indian documents.
“We took an auto from our rented home in Odagaon town to the Nayagarh bus stand. We boarded a bus to Bhubaneswar around 4pm. From Bhubaneswar, we will board a train to Howrah late in the night,” Saheb Sekh, 32, the youngest member of the group, told Metro around 5pm on Tuesday.
The men faced a journey of over 100km to Bhubaneswar Without confirmed tickets, they will have to squeeze into unreserved general compartments on a train to Howrah.
Saheb lived in rented accommodation with his father, paternal uncle — both senior citizens — and another relative. His father, Samed Sekh, and uncle, Rashid Sekh, have been selling their wares in Odisha for more than two decades. Saheb first came with his father 15 years ago.
“We had become like the locals. We knew the best shops for sweets. We were friends with the barber. We thought this was our home outside our home. We never thought we would face this humiliation here,” said Samed, 66.
The men trace their roots to Sagarpara gram panchayat in Jalangi block of Domkal subdivision in Murshidabad. They hold Indian Aadhaar and voter cards. For years, they sold quilts, mosquito nets and woollens on two-wheelers across Nayagarh and neighbouring districts like Ganjam and Khurda.
But showing their Aadhaar and voter cards made no difference. Even at the police
station in Odisha, the men from Bengal were allegedly called “Rohingya” and “Bangladeshi” for speaking in Bengali.
“My father and uncle have been coming here for much longer. They often laugh that they know Nayagarh and Koraput districts better than they know Murshidabad. Yet, we were called infiltrators,” said Saheb.
Their deadline to leave Odisha expired on Monday, but the group stayed one more day to handle their merchandise. They had unsold stock worth over ₹2 lakh. Monday was spent frantically searching for buyers.
“We have been able to sell about half the stock. The rest will remain here in Odisha, locked in a rented room for now,” said Saheb.
Why not stay a few more days until all the stock is sold?
“Shey poristhiti ar nei (that situation has now passed),” Saheb said, his voice resigned. “If by God’s grace we manage to come back, we will see.”
Muslim traders and migrant workers from Bengal have faced serial police detentions and mob attacks in Odisha this year.
“Many migrant workers in Odisha have been forced to flee. In the past fortnight, around 300 of them have returned, most of them to Murshidabad,” said Asif Faruk, Bengal general secretary of the Migrant Labourer Unity Forum.