Residents of enclave exchange detained in Delhi on suspicion of illegal Bangladesh migrants, later released
They were detained by the Delhi Police from a brick kiln during a drive against illegal Bangladeshis. They have now been released.
'Our team had detained them from a brick kiln on Monday. After they produced their resident cards issued by the West Bengal government and other relevant documents, they were allowed to leave on Tuesday,' Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest Delhi) Bhisham Singh told The Indian Express.
After news of their detention reached Cooch Behar, the district police got in touch with their Delhi counterparts.
'This is happening every day to migrants from West Bengal. The police of different BJP-ruled states and that of Delhi did not even bother to inform the West Bengal government. We, on our own, have made verifications and sent them the requisite documents. In this case, the district administration got in touch with the Delhi police authorities,' chairman of the state's migrant welfare board Samirul Islam told The Indian Express.
'In 2015, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and our chief minister (Mamata Banerjee) welcomed them to India after the historic exclave exchange. Now they are being detained as illegal Bangladeshi citizens. And that too in the national capital,' the TMC MP in Rajya Sabha added.
Those who were detained by the Delhi Police were identified as Samsul Haque and his brother Rejaul Haque, Md Rayhan Haque, Md Rabiul Haque, and his wife Rashida Begum. Rabiul's three children, aged 15, 10, and 4, were also detained. Their family members said they hailed from Dashiar Chhara, an Indian exclave in Bangladesh. After the enclave exchange, they moved to an apartment complex in Dinhata made exclusively for enclave dwellers who came to India.
'My father, Samsul Haq, and my uncle Rezaul Haq worked in a brick kiln in Delhi. They worked there for the past eight months. Police raided the brick kiln and picked them up. They were taken to the Shalimar Bagh police station. My father (Samsul Haque ) was away in the market. He later went to the police station with all documents relating to residential proof. He, too, was detained,' said Sharmin Khatun, daughter of Samsul Haq, over the phone.
'Our fathers chose to come to India to have a better life. We did not want to lose our homeland. But we never dreamt that we would be branded as illegal Bangladeshis,' said Sharmin.
The enclave exchange took place on August 1, 2015. One hundred and eleven 'Indian' enclaves spread over 17,160 acres inside Bangladesh went to Bangladesh, while 51 'Bangladeshi' enclaves occupying 7,110 acres in India became a part of India. The residents of these enclaves were given the option of accepting citizenship of either country. At least 921 residents had then crossed over to the Indian side with much fanfare.
The incidents come close to heels for detention of West Bengal residents in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh. Recently, seven residents of West Bengal were detained by Mumbai police and pushed into Bangladesh by the BSF. They were later brought back from Bangladesh after the West Bengal government's intervention.
With ENS, Delhi
Ravik Bhattacharya is the Chief of Bureau of The Indian Express, Kolkata. Over 20 years of experience in the media industry and covered politics, crime, major incidents and issues, apart from investigative stories in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Andaman Nicobar islands. Ravik won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in 2007 for political reporting.
Ravik holds a bachelor degree with English Hons from Scottish Church College under Calcutta University and a PG diploma in mass communication from Jadavpur University. Ravik started his career with The Asian Age and then moved to The Statesman, The Telegraph and Hindustan Times. ... Read More
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