The Mamata Banerjee government on Friday approached the judiciary over the alleged “barbaric torture and atrocities on migrant workers from Bengal in BJP-ruled states like Odisha.”
Posting on X, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam wrote, “We will knock the door of the judiciary again and again as the atrocity on the Bengali speaking people is sheer violation of the Constitution and law of the land.”
The legal move comes a day after the state chief secretary Manoj Pant wrote to his Odisha counterpart, expressing concern over the treatment of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in districts such as Paradip, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Malkangiri, Balasore, and Cuttack.
“We are receiving reports of such individuals being detained without due legal process in regions around Paradip and across coastal districts such as Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Malkangiri, Balasore and Cuttack. What is even more concerning is that, even when these persons produce valid identity documents, their claims are being dismissed,” Pant said in the letter.
“In many instances, they are being asked to produce ancestral land records, dating back to several generations, an unreasonable and unjustifiable demand for migrant workers,” he added.
Tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah in his post, Islam said that even centrally issued identity documents are being dismissed by officials in Odisha.
“The Odisha authorities refused to accept any centrally issued identity documents like Aadhar and EPIC, and demanded verification from the Bengal government. We promptly provided the required details – verified and furnished by none other than the District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police of various districts. But, even that failed to satisfy them” he said.
"Now, Odisha has no further demands, but still, their police are refusing to release these poor migrant workers, in many cases. They are detaining those migrant workers illegally after 24 hours, without producing them before the court. They probably forgot about our constitutional right that allows us to roam around freely in any place of our country," the TMC leader added.
Islam wrote that Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee “believes in diversity and strives to maintain harmony in every sense.”
“What specific document do you require to recognise these poor citizens as Indians? What more do you want?” he wrote.
“I sincerely urge the Odisha government and the BJP: do not play with fire. If you ignite the politics of hatred, you may end up being consumed by your own flames,” he added.
On Thursday, the Parijayi Shramik Oikya Mancha (Migrant Workers Unity Forum) announced plans to file Public Interest Litigations in the Calcutta High Court. The group has accused authorities in BJP-ruled states of harassing Bengali-speaking migrant workers and branding them as “Bangladeshis.”