At least six members of the Matua community from North 24-Parganas, including minors, were allegedly detained and harassed by Maharashtra police on the suspicion that they were Bangladeshi nationals, with Trinamool claiming that the anti-Bengali politics in BJP-ruled states spared no one, regardless of religion.
Family members said the six individuals from Ashoknagar and adjoining areas of North 24-Parganas, who had been staying in Pune as migrant workers for seven years, were detained by police on July 3 oand asked to prove their citizenship. Their kin said these individuals had voter and Aadhaar cards.
Even those carrying identity cards issued by the All India Matua Mahasangha (AIMM) — led by BJP MP and Union minister of state Shantanu Thakur — were denied recognition of their Bengal residence, the families alleged.
“My younger brother Arush Adhikari is still in police custody along with three others. Two have been released. However, Arush’s wife and six-month-old son have been put under police surveillance on the suspicion of being Bangladeshis. We tried our best, showing the Matua Mahasangha card, but they have yet to release us,” said Bhagirath Adhikari, who migrated to Karnataka for work.
Bhagirath said after failing to convince the Pune police, they contacted the office of Bangaon MP and Union minister Santanu Thakur for support.
“His office assured us total support in securing my brother’s release. We were relieved. Let’s see when they are finally freed from police harassment,” he added.
Ever since the Centre instructed all states to detect Bangladeshi infiltrators, allegations of Bengali-speaking Indians, many of them Muslims, being harassed in BJP-ruled states such as Delhi an Odisha have become a key issue in Bengal politics. Trinamool has raised the issue in a big way, especially after it was reported that seven Bengal residents who were detained by Maharashtra police, were deported to Bangladesh. The Bengal government took the initiative to bring them back by putting pressure on the BSF.
Trinamool has moved Calcutta High Court by filing multiple habeas corpus petitions against the governments of Delhi and Odisha. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee will lead a march in Calcutta on Wednesday to protest against “atrocities” on Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states.
Matua individuals being harassed as Bangladeshis gave Trinamool a fresh reason to mount a sharp attack on the BJP.
“Now members of our beloved Matua community are facing harassment by the anti-Bengali BJP government in Maharashtra. Hatred in politics spares no one,” TMC Rajya Sabha member Samirul Islam, chairs the West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board, posted on X.
“We have already reached out to the affected family, who confirmed that police in BJP-ruled Maharashtra have detained Arush Adhikary and at least five others, including minors, on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals. Shockingly, BJP MP and Union Minister of State Shantanu Thakur himself belongs to the Matua community. We have also learned that Pune police are reportedly refusing to recognise identity cards issued by the All India Matua Mahasangha (AIMM), besides EPIC and Aadhaar cards. People from the Matua community confirmed that those identity cards were issued by BJP MP Shantanu Thakur,” Islam added.
Mahitosh Baidya, general secretary of the All India Matua Mahasangha and a close aide of Thakur, said: “I received a distress call from Pune last Thursday. A person told me how he and his relatives were being harassed by the police despite having valid ID proof and an identity card issued by our organisation. I have assured him legal support in Pune. We do not support any harassment of bona fide Indian citizens, regardless of their religious identity.”
“Moreover, if a Matua with a valid identity document is harassed outside Bengal, questions will naturally arise about the true intent of the Citizenship Act,” he said. “However, we are yet to receive any formal complaint from the family.”
Nine migrant labourers from Thanarpara in Nadia district, who were working on a construction project in Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon, were detained by the police for allegedly staying without proper documentation and failing to report their presence to the administration.
Trinamool Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra, described the Kondagaon detention as a case of “state-sponsored kidnapping.” Thanarpara falls within her parliamentary
constituency.
In a video message shared on social media Monday night, Moitra said: “On July 12, police picked them up… all of them had valid documents. We have received information from their family members that they have been sent to Jagdalpur jail in the neighbouring Bastar district.”
Moitra expressed shock after being told by the local SP that the authorities “do not want them to stay in Kondagaon”.
Moitra alleged massive information gaps. “We have not received a copy of the detention order or details of a hearing; they had no access to a lawyer or even a phone call,” she said.
“They say they have been released, but there is still no mobile phone contact,”
she said.
“These are nine bona fide workers who went with a contractor and carried proper documentation. Neither the government of West Bengal nor the families were informed. We have not received any detention order or details of a hearing; they were denied legal access or a phone call. They claim to be released, yet we are unable to establish contact,” Moitra added.