How Gujarat crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi settlers has a ‘Pahalgam' backdrop
Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara, Gujarat's largest cities, have become focal points of a sweeping police operation against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the state. The intensity of the drive is being particularly felt in the Chandola Lake area of Ahmedabad, a predominantly Muslim slum known as the 'Dharavi of Gujarat'.The operation, which started on April 26, has led to the detention of over 1,000 individuals and controversial demolition on April 29 of at least 2,000 homes in Bangali Vaas of Siyasatnagar near the Chandola Lake. The crackdown, fuelled by concerns over national security and environmental degradation, has sparked debates about legality, human rights and communal targeting. The Gujarat High Court, while taking cognisance of the demolition, refused to stay the action.advertisementThe operation began at 3 am on April 26. The Ahmedabad Crime Branch, Special Operations Group, Economic Offences Wing and local police worked in unison, detaining 890 suspects in Ahmedabad; 134 individuals were rounded up in Surat and another 200 people in Vadodara by April 27.The operation was launched following intelligence reports linking illegal Bangladeshi immigrants to security threats, including potential ties to the Al-Qaeda and Indian Mujahideen, as well as environmental violations around the Chandola Lake.
Gujarat minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi hailed the operation as a 'historic victory', emphasising on the state's zero-tolerance for illegal immigration. 'If a single infiltrator is given shelter, their condition will be made bad,' Sanghavi warned.The operation gained urgency after the April 22 terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam. A statewide security alert has been sounded since the carnage that had tourists from Gujarat among the victims.advertisementIn Ahmedabad, on April 26, detainees were paraded 4 km through the city streets, from the Kankaria Football Ground to the Gaikwad Haveli headquarters of the Crime Branch—a move documented by drone footage and widely circulated by the police. While this public display may have been intended as a deterrence, it has raised ethical questions about the treatment of suspects, many of whom include women and minors.Vadodara screened 1,700 'suspicious individuals', confirming nine as illegal Bangladeshi nationals. Across Gujarat, over 6,500 suspects have been detained so far, with 450 identified as undocumented Bangladeshis. On April 28, 300 detainees in Ahmedabad were released after their Indian citizenship was verified. They included residents from Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. As of April 29, 143 deportations were underway in Ahmedabad; 15 had been deported in February and 35 in March after similar crackdowns, but on a smaller scale.The latest drive is the biggest crackdown ever in Gujarat, where Muslim ghettos are often seen as the dark underbelly blurring the distinction between citizens and illegal immigrants as the latter scurry for survival in subhuman conditions on encroached land.Police identified illegal immigrants through documents, interrogations and satellite imagery of encroachments. Many detainees lacked valid Indian documents; 70 in Ahmedabad had no papers and over 100 held forged Aadhaar, PAN, voter ID and passports. Some people claimed to be from West Bengal but failed to provide family ties or proof of origin. The Ahmedabad Crime Branch used technology, including drone footage and satellite images from 1985, 2011 and 2024, to map illegal settlements and confirm identities.advertisementStepping up the crackdown, on April 29, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the local police embarked on its biggest-ever demolition drive that kept the city on the edge. Authorities claim that in addition to building illegal colonies, immigrants had encroached on the periphery of the Chandola Lake, filling it with waste from the Pirana landfill site and blocking the Narmada water pipeline. The historic 1,200-hectare lake, they said, had shrunk over the past 15 years.Thousands of people were reported to have fled Ahmedabad as 70 bulldozer machines, 200 trucks and 2,000 police personnel started gathering for the demolition in the wee hours. Intriguingly, most of the 'illegal houses' had electricity connection provided by a private power distribution company. A photograph of a man cutting off these connections on April 28 was widely circulated on social media, interpreted by many that 'illegal colonies' were an open secret.advertisementKingpins, Lallu Bihari Pathan and his son Fateh, were arrested. The father-son duo allegedly operated a vast underground network from a luxurious 5,000 yard property allegedly constructed by illegally reclaiming land from the Chandola Lake. The entire property was razed. The network allegedly facilitated the induction of immigrants into local markets as casual labour, scrap dealers or rickshaw drivers, while several others were also recruited for illicit activities such as sex trade or high-interest lending.Some suspects allegedly had links with drug cartels, human trafficking and Al-Qaeda sleeper cells, raising alarm about the potential nexus between illegal immigration and organised crime. These claims are currently under investigation.'Bangali Vaas is where many illegal Bangladeshis live. Action had been taken against them earlier as well. Demolitions were done too. Three days ago, the police conducted a massive combing operation in which more than 180 Bangladeshis were identified,' said Ahmedabad police commissioner G.S. Malik.On April 29, the Gujarat High Court rejected a petition by 18 affected individuals for a stay on the demolition. The court said prior notice was not required to remove encroachments on government property. The petitioners' counsel Anand Yagnik had argued that residents deserved a 15-day notice since they had lived in area for 50 years.advertisementMujahid Nafees, human rights activist and convenor of the Gujarat Minority Coordination Committee, said: 'The land in occupation may not belong to them. It is government land and they have been residing there as they are unable to purchase property due to sheer poverty and deprivation. There is nothing in the hands of the municipal corporation and the police commissioner of Ahmedabad to suggest that the petitioners are on the bed of the lake.'Migrants from Bangladesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal are drawn to Gujarat's industrial hubs, such as Surat and Ahmedabad, for low-wage jobs in construction, textiles and other sectors. The state's economic prosperity, juxtaposed with porous borders and lax enforcement, has made it a magnet for undocumented workers.Yet, the government's focus on deportation—Gujarat director general of police Vikas Sahay confirmed coordination with the Centre and Border Security Force for swift repatriation—does little to address the root causes of migration, such as economic disparity and political instability in the regions migrants come from.Subscribe to India Today Magazine
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