“We spent a night at a detention camp. Somehow, through the intervention of our state’s police, we were released. I will never go to work in Assam again. I have worked in different parts of India but never faced such a situation.”
Sahbaz Hashmi (35), from Kuligram in Murshidabad, is among a large number of migrant workers from Bengal who have returned home after being detained by authorities in Gujarat and Assam, and allegedly harassed by local residents in Odisha, amid a crackdown on illegal Bangladeshis.
So much so, that top officials in the West Bengal government and police have now reached out to their counterparts for help. “There have been many such cases where migrant workers of Bengal are being targeted in different states. Officers in the police and administrative levels of the state government have spoken with their counterparts in other states,” Samirul Islam, chairman of the state’s migrant welfare board, told The Indian Express.
Adding to the mounting fear, seven persons from the state were detained by Mumbai Police and pushed into Bangladesh by the BSF on June 14. They included four youths from Murshidabad, one from Purba Bardhaman and a married couple from North 24 Parganas. All of them were brought back to India following the intervention of the Bengal government.
“Whenever such a case has been brought to our notice, the state administration and police have helped in the release of such detainees. In one such incident in Assam, I personally called the SP there,” said Islam, who is also a TMC Rajya Sabha MP.
Islam has also written a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, “highlighting how our migrants are being targeted not only by mobs but also by police in different states, only because they speak Bengali”. Similar letters have been sent by TMC MP Yusuf Pathan and Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury to the chief ministers of Gujarat and Odisha.
“The welfare board already has a helpline number for anyone who is facing problems in other states,” Islam said, adding that its portal has about 22 lakh registered migrant workers in all. “We are also trying to provide jobs to many of those who have returned through state schemes like Pathashree (road construction),” he said.
Recounting his ordeal over the phone from Murshidabad, the migrant worker Hashmi said he was part of a 12-member group in Assam’s Numaligarh.
“On May 24, we were called to the local police station. We told them we hailed from West Bengal. They had a list with them. They let two from the group, who had voter IDs with them, leave. They took us to our rented home where we showed them our voter ID and Aadhaar card,” said Hashmi, who returned home on Saturday.
“But they insisted that we were Bangladeshis,” said Abdus Sattar, from Kuligram, who was part of the group.
“The two who were let go contacted us,” said Sattar’s father Barjahan Ali. “We went to the local MP and MLA and appealed for help. Then, the police took all relevant documents from us and contacted Assam police. Finally, on May 28, they let the youths leave. But till now, they have not released their documents or cell phones,” he said.
According to Hashmi, they were taken to Assam by a contractor for a monthly salary of Rs 15,000. “Now, I don’t know where I will get a job,” said Hashmi.
Another group of workers from Kusumgoria village in Birbhum district told The Indian Express that they had returned from Surat in Gujarat where they worked as a saree craftsmen. “We were picked up and detained for four days by police,” said Sheikh Ataur Rehman (18).
According to Rehman, the local police detained his uncle Sheikh Ataur Rehman (40) and cousin Kamrudzaman Mullick (18), too, on April 26.
“They said Aadhaar and voter ID were not enough. Initially, they took our phones away but then allowed us to use our phones twice. We called up our homes and got other documents such as school certificates. Then, they asked for land papers. I had a small plot of land in my name and got photos of the relevant papers sent over the phone. They released us,” he said.
For Shahina Bibi, from Kusumgoria, poverty meant her husband, Ansar Ali (33), had to overcome the fear of going back. “My husband, a marble worker, was picked up by local police on April 26 from our rented room. He had been working in Gujarat for eight years. I ran from one police station to another. After nine days, he was released after he showed land papers and school certificates after contacting home,” said Shahina (24).
“We returned. Three days ago, he went back to work in Surat. We need the money. But this time, I stayed home with our three children,” she said.
Other migrant workers who returned from Odisha told The Indian Express that they faced harassment and threats from local residents.
Says Kabir Sheikh (22) a resident of Chakrapur village in Murshidabad: “On April 18, about 30 of us were on our way to Sambalpur where we had a contract to work as masons. However, when we were having tea outside the railway station, a crowd gathered and asked for our details. Then they started to beat us, shouting that we will never be able to work there. We ran into the station and caught the next train back.”