Mohammad Nazim Uddin
Crime fiction: The line between culinary artistry and sinister manipulation blurs at this restaurant
An excerpt from 'Tagore Never Ate Here', by Mohammad Nazim Uddin. Translated from the Bengali by V Ramaswamy.
Mohammad Nazim Uddin
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V Ramaswamy
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Scroll.in
an hour ago
- Scroll.in
In May crackdown on ‘foreigners', only Bengali-origin Muslims sent to Assam detention centre
On May 24, the Matia detention centre began to fill up as the Assam police launched a drive to round up alleged illegal immigrants in the state. Over the next few days, reports appeared of Bengali-origin Muslims held at the centre being taken to India's border with Bangladesh and being forced to cross over at gunpoint. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the Assembly that 303 'foreigners' had been pushed into Bangladesh. But he did not disclose their identities. Scroll filed a Right to Information query with the office of the Inspector-General of Prisons, Assam, asking for information on the number of detainees at the Matia centre, details of their cases, and when they were admitted inside. We also asked for detailed information on those who had been released, deported or 'pushed' into Bangladesh since April 2025. The Assam government's reply to our questions was incomplete. It did not share any information about those forced to cross the border into Bangladesh. However, it gave us a list of those detained at the Matia detention centre between May 27 and July 8. All 53 of them are Muslims. The RTI response Most of those rounded up in that crackdown were declared foreigners like the 51-year-old teacher from Morigaon, Khairul Islam, who was arrested and then forced out of Indian territory. Declared foreigners are typically long-term residents with families and properties in Assam, who have failed to prove that they are Indian citizens before the state's foreigners tribunals. Islam was forced out even though his case, challenging the foreigners tribunal order, was pending in the Supreme Court. Similarly, Shona Bhanu, a 59-year-old resident of Barpeta, was expelled from Indian territory. Both had told Scroll that they were first kept at the Matia camp before being taken to the no man's land between India and Bangladesh. However, the Assam government does not seem to have acknowledged these arrests, let alone their being expelled from India. The Assam prisons department informed Scroll that 53 declared foreigners were arrested and admitted in the camp on May 27, 28 and 29and July 8, all of them Muslims. However, the RTI reply has no record of Islam and Bhanu being admitted to the camp in May. Moreover, when Scroll put together an Assam government affidavit in the Supreme Court and the information from the RTI response, it became clear – in the last nearly 12 months, only Muslim declared foreigners have faced arrest and incarceration in Assam. The CAA model Foreigner tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies unique to Assam, which rule on citizenship cases. They have been accused of arbitrariness and bias, and declaring people foreigners on the basis of minor spelling mistakes, a lack of documents or lapses in memory. Many of the appeals to FT orders are pending in the higher courts. In the last five decades, Assam's foreigners tribunals have declared 1.6 lakh people as non-citizens, of whom 69,559 are Hindus. In recent years, several declared foreigners had been released from imprisonment after the Supreme Court and the Gauhati High Court ruled against their prolonged incarceration. But that changed in August 2024. The Assam government began a renewed crackdown on declared foreigners, who were arrested and sent to the Matia detention centre. By September 2024, the number of detained declared foreigners at Matia, the largest detention centre in India, had increased by four times to 72. However, all the newly arrested declared foreigners, who were sent to the detention centre in August, were Muslims, according to the Assam government affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on February 3 this year. The admission list at the Matia centre, which is maintained by the camp authorities and was seen by Scroll, also showed that only Muslim declared foreigners were admitted following the crackdown. As is evident from the RTI response from the Assam prisons headquarters, the May crackdown leading to 'pushbacks' followed the same pattern. The decision to spare Hindu declared foreigners is in line with the Assam government's implementation of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, which had triggered fierce protests from Assamese nationalists in 2019 . For instance, in July 2024, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government asked the state's border police not to forward cases of non-Muslims who had entered India illegally before 2014 to foreigners tribunals. As Scroll had reported, this was a clear sign of the Assam government putting in place a citizenship regime that excludes Muslims. Last month, too, the Assam Government asked district authorities and members of the foreigners tribunals to drop cases against the members of six non-Muslim communities who are granted amnesty under CAA. While Assamese nationalists were opposed to all immigrants, whether Hindu or Muslim, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has raised the alarm against 'Muslim infiltration'. 'In Assam, we are fearlessly resisting the ongoing, unchecked Muslim infiltration from across the border, which has already caused an alarming demographic shift. In several districts, Hindus are now on the verge of becoming a minority in their own land.' No Rohingyas In May, Scroll had reported that all the Rohingya detainees had been expelled from the detention centre even though their cases were pending in the courts. The Assam prison headquarters' reply confirms that there are no Rohingya inmates at Matia. As of July 23, of the 110 inmates at Matia, three are 'convicted foreigners', 80 declared foreigners and 27 Chin refugees. But on April 24 this year, there were 103 Rohingya refugees – 37 of them children – at the Matia camp, according to the lists maintained by the detention centre, which were accessed by Scroll. The department said there is 'no record available pertaining' to whether the refugees were deported or pushed across into Bangladesh. Scroll had reported that they were expelled from the detention centre without following due process. Sarma had announced that several inmates of the Matia detention centre in Assam, including Rohingya refugees, were 'pushed back' into Bangladesh as part of a countrywide 'operation' by the Indian government.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Sensitisation drive after dad, son face language harassment at Noida hotel
1 2 Kolkata: The Indian multinational hospitality chain of leased and franchised hotels, passed on an internal message to all hotels under its platform to not discriminate against any guest on the basis of caste, creed, religion, language, or nationality. The internal message was circulated a day after TOI reported how a techie from New Town, along with his 14-year-old son — a national-level skater — in Noida for a skating championship, was allegedly denied hotel stay, which he booked through OYO, in Sector 44 after being mistaken for Bangladeshis. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee also reacted to the issue on Thursday, asking why BJP-ruled states were not respecting the Bengali language. "I got to know about an incident that a techie was not allowed to stay in a hotel in Noida with his son simply because he spoke in Bengali. If I respect your language, why will you not respect mine?" she said at a govt programme commemorating the 12th anniversary of the Kanyashree social welfare scheme. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata | Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in Kolkata In a video the man shot, the hotel receptionist was heard claiming the local cops instructed them not to allow anyone from Bangladesh, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir to stay at the hotels until Aug 15 for security issues. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Accounting Help Made Simple legal directorate Learn More Undo When the techie argued he was not a Bangladeshi but was from West Bengal, the receptionist claimed it was the same thing and denied them entry. The family shifted to another hotel in Sector 49 while OYO apologised to the guest. Noida Police also denied issuing any such directives, stating only ID checks for Bangladeshi nationals with valid documents are required. "The moment we saw the video, we started an enquiry. We have asked the owner of the hotel Meera Eternity to give us proof of which police officer may have asked them to deny guests on the basis of the language or address. We believe the hotel already resold the room to some other guest and thus made up the story, taking advantage of the current language row. We have already taken strict action against them, and following the enquiry, we may de-roster the hotel permanently from our platform," said a senior official. "OYO does not promote any form of discrimination based on race, religion, language, region, or ethnicity. Such behaviour is a clear violation of our policies, the law, and the values we uphold. OYO remains committed to ensuring safe, respectful, and inclusive stays, and any partner found engaging in discriminatory practices faces strict action, including permanent removal from our network," OYO said in a statement. The incident comes amidst a political storm that erupted since the start of the month following a letter — allegedly from the Delhi Police Lodhi Colony station — requesting a translator for the "Bangladeshi language," igniting outrage across India, especially in Bengali-speaking regions. "I am glad the company has addressed the issue and hope no one else faces harassment and humiliation like I faced," said the software engineer. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
3 Assamese men assaulted for entering Nagaland ‘without permit'
Amid tensions on Assam-Nagaland border following large-scale eviction drives in Assam's Golaghat district, three men from Assam who had entered Nagaland for a picnic on August 15 were assaulted by three Nagaland locals who sought to check their permits and identities. According to a police officer from Golaghat, nine men from Merapani – which is part of the Disturbed Area Belt, land disputed between Assam and Nagaland – had gone for a picnic on Friday to a spot located around 1.5 km within the adjacent Wokha district in Nagaland. 'Since the area is only about 2-3 km from each of their homes, they must not have thought much about it. But when they were packing up to leave around 5.30 pm, three Naga locals who were carrying airguns confronted them. They asked to see Inner Line Permits and Aadhaar cards of the group. On not finding the papers with them, they (Naga locals) hit two of the group members with the butt of their airguns and fired in the air. A pellet from the airgun hit one of the (Assamese) men, Prakash Basumatary,' said the police officer. He said the matter was informed to the Nagaland police, after which the three accused were apprehended by Wokha police around 11 pm. 'After the evictions, people in Nagaland have been particular about checking identification and permits of people entering from Assam,' said the officer. In the past month, the Assam government conducted a massive eviction drive in the Rengma Reserve Forest in Uriamghat in Golaghat district, a region which borders Nagaland. Over 2500 families, mostly Bengali-origin Muslims, living in the area were affected. Ahead of this eviction drive, the Nagaland government directed 'heightened vigilance' along the state border with Assam amid 'apprehensions' that the displaced people may try to enter Nagaland. Following this, police, district administrations and civil society organisations swung into action to conduct checks on movement near entry points from Assam.
