Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention into the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people, particularly students and families, under the guise of identifying illegal Bangladeshi migrants.
In his letter, Chowdhury highlighted cases involving Bengali-speaking residents, including migrants from West Bengal districts like Murshidabad, Malda, Nadia, West Dinajpur, and 24 Parganas, being unfairly targeted in Delhi and other parts of India.
“Recently, after turmoil and change of government in Bangladesh, instances have come into light about officials pinpointing Bengali-speaking pupils in various schools in Delhi and other places, harassing them, enquiring about their parents and whereabouts. Recently, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) under directives from the state government, has undertaken a special initiative to identify illegal migrants from Bangladesh,” Chowdhury’s letter noted.
“This drive is to fork out poor Bengali-speaking students and their families but, rarely prove it’s worth, to pinpoint any Bangladeshi national. Similar harassment is taking place in many other states as well. There are plenty of labour migrating regularly from Murshidabad, Maldah, West Dinajpur, Nadia, 24 Parganas etc. to various states including Delhi,” it added.
The Congress leader claimed that these efforts often fail to identify actual illegal migrants from Bangladesh but disproportionately affect genuine Indian citizens from West Bengal.
He urged the Prime Minister to ensure that genuine residents of West Bengal are not subjected to undue scrutiny or harassment. He appealed for a balanced approach to identify actual illegal infiltrators while protecting the rights and dignity of legitimate citizens.
“My appeal is that the effort should always be to find out real Bangladeshi infiltrates but not to harass a Bengali migrant from West Bengal. Kindly use your discretion and power to see that no harassment comes to Bengali-speaking students and families hailing from West Bengal,” Chowdhury wrote in the letter, attaching a supporting document for reference.
The former Congress MP’s letter came a day after the Directorate of Education on Monday asked schools in Delhi to prevent the enrolment of “illegal Bangladeshi migrants” by ensuring a strict document verification process during admission.
Sources at Delhi Police told news agency PTI that over 1,500 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants have been identified during the checks across the entire national capital.
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