Yusuf Pathan, pilloried widely for alleged insensitivity and inaction during the Murshidabad unrest last month, resurfaced on Friday with a stern missive — dated April 27 — to Amit Shah on the alleged ill-treatment meted out to the state’s migrant workers in Odisha, but ended up getting mocked for it by the Bengal Opposition.

Trinamool Congress’s first-time MP from Baharampur wrote to the Union home minister underscoring concerns regarding the alleged targeting of workers based on religious or regional identity, which he pointed out were in violation of the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and sought a quadra-pronged intervention from the ministry.

“1) Direct the Odisha state administration to take prompt and stringent action against the perpetrators; 2) Ensure the safety and security of all migrant workers across the affected districts; 3) Constitute a central fact-finding team to investigate the root causes and scale of the violence; and 4) Provide necessary relief and rehabilitation support to the workers returning to West Bengal,” wrote the 42-year-oldformer cricketer.

He added that the situation was a matter of human dignity and the constitutional right to work and reside in any part of this federal nation.

“I write to you with grave concern regarding the alarming rise in incidents of violence against migrant workers from West Bengal, particularly those hailing from my constituency… and surrounding districts, who have recently returned from Odisha after being subjected to targeted attacks,” wrote Pathan, part of India’s World Cup-winning squads of 2007 (T20) and 2011 (ODI), and the Kolkata Knight Riders’ successful IPL campaign of 2014. “Many have been assaulted at night, robbed of their mobile phones and earnings, had their Aadhaar cards destroyed, and forcibly evicted from their accommodations. Disturbingly, similar incidents occurred in August-September 2024 as well.”

This letter came weeks after the Vadodara boy was dragged through the mud over an ill-timed Instagram post with photos of himself sipping tea, likely taken outside Bengal, with the caption: “Easy afternoons, good chai and calm surroundings. Just soaking in the moment.”

The post, widely seen as insensitive, had earned the Trinamool MP a barrage of condemnation for his “Nero moment”, with his critics also asking why he was not in his constituency when the district was in turmoil. While Baharampur, Pathan’s constituency, did not itself witness violence, it happens to be home to the district’s administrative headquarters.

Pathan, a political debutant, was the toast of Trinamool last summer when he vindicated Mamata Banerjee’s faith in him by bearding Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress’s tallest Bengal leader, in his den. It was Chowdhury’s first Lok Sabha defeat after five consecutive wins.

A Trinamool source admitted to the letter being drafted by the senior leadership.

“The content was sent to him, he merely signed below and forwarded it. This was, of course, being done to control some of the damage to his image from that Instagram episode,” said the source.

The Opposition, however, remained unsparing.

The BJP’s chief spokesperson in Bengal, Samik Bhattacharya, said Pathan is not a political character and accused him of having no understanding of the content of the letter.

“If he knew the facts, he would have brought up DMK-ruled Tamil Nadu instead of (BJP-ruled) Odisha. That is where this mostly happened. Bangladeshi infiltration was facilitated by his party, so he should be taking this up with his party first,” said Bhattacharya.

His counterpart in the Congress, Soumya Aich Roy, said the people of Murshidabad and Baharampur have already realised that Chowdhury was the only one standing by the people there irrespective of the electoral outcome.

“Trinamool has noticed that the cricketer -- known for his proximity to (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, imported from Gujarat – is being widely trashed for his total incapability in addition to insensitivity, which is why this letter was sent out in his name,” said Aich Roy, pointing out that this was done after several rounds of initiative from Chowdhury to draw the attention of governments at the state and the Centre.

“The people of Baharampur have been fooled once. That will not happen again,” he added.

The CPM’s former Murshidabad MP Badruddoza Khan accused Pathan of remaining as “blissfully unaware” now as he was during the unrest in the district last month.

“What does the migrant MP really know about the plight of our migrant workers?” asked Khan. “There is nothing better to be expected when such people are brought in and made elected representatives….”