West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the BJP of targeting Bengali-speaking citizens in states ruled by the saffron party labelling them as “Bangladeshis” despite valid documents.
"You should be ashamed that you are labelling bona fide Indian citizens as Bangladeshis just because of the language they speak. One should feel proud to speak in Bengali, as well as Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi. If you ask me, I can speak in all these languages," Banerjee said, during the question hour in the Bengal Assembly.
"On one hand, you are branding Indians as Bangladeshis for their spoken word, and on the other, you are depriving these people, who hold voter ID, PAN, and Aadhaar cards, of the right to earn their livelihood in your states," she added.
The chief minister's comment came two days after a 36-year-old man from West Bengal, was reportedly pushed across the Indo-Bangla border by the Maharashtra Police in the wee hours of Saturday. The man was picked up by Maharashtra police from Mira Road near Mumbai on June 11.
The eviction by the Maharashtra police came despite interventions by the West Bengal Police and the state Migrant Welfare Board, who had submitted documents to prove his Indian citizenship.
The individual, identified as Mehbub Sheikh, 36, is a resident of Hossainnagar village in Mahisasthali gram panchayat area of Bhagabangola in Murshidabad district, and has a wife and three children.
Samirul Islam, chairman of the West Bengal Migrant Welfare Board, told The Indian Express, “After Sheikh’s family approached us, we contacted the Maharashtra Police. All the (required) documents were sent to them. They didn’t even bother to inform the West Bengal government and Sheikh was pushed into Bangladesh by the BSF.”
Sheikh had been working as a mason in Maharashtra for the past two years, residing in the Mira Road area.
His younger brother, Mujibur, speaking from Murshidabad, stated, “Five days ago (Wednesday, June 11), while he was having tea, police picked him up, suspecting him to be a Bangladeshi and took him to Kanakia police station.”
Mujibur said the family had started the process of providing the relevant documents to prove the elder brother’s citizenship after he called them from the Kanakia police station.
“We immediately informed the local police, administration, panchayat pradhan and migrant welfare board, who said they were in touch with the Maharashtra Police and by Friday we sent all documents, including his voter card, Aadhaar card, ration card and even our family tree certified by the panchayat, to the Maharashtra Police.”
Shabbir Ahmed, pradhan of Mahisasthali gram panchayat, informed that they rushed to Siliguri upon learning that Mehbub Sheikh had been sent to a BSF camp there.
“On Friday (June 13), we were informed by the local police station that Maharashtra Police alerted them that Mehbub has been sent to a BSF camp in Siliguri. At the camp they did not even listen to us,” the pradhan recounted.
Sheikh informed his family that he was pushed into Bangladesh by the BSF around 3:30 am on Saturday, after which he sought shelter in a village and made a call.
Meghna Burade, senior inspector at Mira Road police station in Thane, defended their actions, asserting they were “not at fault.”
She explained that following a police commissioner’s order to act against illegal Bangladeshi migrants, they detained several suspects, including Mehbub Sheikh, on June 11.
Burade claimed that when asked for documents to prove nationality, Sheikh “failed to produce” a birth certificate or any strong proof to support his claim of being Indian.
“We are not at fault… We demanded documents from them that could prove their nationality. Generally, we don’t consider Aadhaar and PAN cards for this purpose, as they can be fraudulently obtained. Hence, we asked him to produce his birth certificate or any other document. But he failed to produce the same and also did not provide any other document or his family’s documents to support his claim that he is Indian,” she stated.
This incident follows India’s “push back” strategy, which has seen hundreds of suspected undocumented migrants sent to Bangladesh through the eastern border, particularly in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.
Police forces across the country have been conducting drives to identify undocumented migrants.
The Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh had previously sent a letter to India on May 8, expressing “concern over people being pushed into the country and urged New Delhi to adhere to established repatriation mechanisms.”
In the last 15 days, over 400 Bangladeshi immigrants have been apprehended for illegal stay in the national capital.
