SC tells Centre, several states to reply to plea alleging Bengali Muslims being ‘illegally' detained

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2 days ago

The Supreme Court on Thursday sought responses from the Union government and several states on a petition alleging that Muslim migrant labourers from West Bengal were being detained on unverified claims of being foreigners who entered India 'illegally' from Bangladesh, Bar and Bench reported.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, however, refused to pass an interim order on the petition. The bench orally observed that it cannot ignore the ground reality that there were risks of foreigners 'illegally infiltrating' into India.
'How to deal with that situation?' the court asked. 'If you don't detain, the writing on the wall is that they will disappear.'
The development comes amid the Trinamool Congress repeatedly raising concerns about several Bengali-speaking migrant workers being detained in parts of the country on the suspicion of being Bangladeshis.
Since the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the police in several states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party have been detaining Bengali-speaking persons – mostly Muslims – and asking them to prove that they are Indian citizens.
Several persons have been forced into Bangladesh after they allegedly could not prove their Indian citizenship. In some cases, persons who were mistakenly sent to Bangladesh returned to the country after state authorities in India proved that they were Indians.
The petition in the Supreme Court was filed by the West Bengal Migrant Workers Welfare Board, Bar and Bench reported.
It said that a letter was issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in May that directed states and Union Territories to verify the credentials of persons suspected to be undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar.
This direction was being 'misused' by several states to target and detain Bengali migrant workers because of their religion or because they converse in Bengali, the petition claimed.
'The detention policies reinforce harmful stereotypes and unfounded suspicion against inter-state Bengali migrants, undermining constitutional principles of equality and fraternity,' Bar and Bench quoted the petition as saying.
The West Bengal Migrant Workers Welfare Board urged the court to direct the Union government to withdraw the letter issued in May and also restrain states from unlawfully detaining Bengali migrant workers.
It sought the release of migrants who had already been detained on suspicion of being foreigners.
At the hearing on Thursday, advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioner, asked the bench whether state governments could pick up Bengali Muslims randomly and detain them, Bar and Bench reported.
Bhushan said that there is no power to detain a suspected foreigner under the Foreigners Act.
In response, the court said that there must be a system put in place to easily verify the home state of migrant workers to make it easier to confirm their Indian citizenship. 'A nodal agency is needed to coordinate between state of origin and the state where they are earning livelihood,' Bar and Bench quoted Kant as saying.
Bhushan also told the court that there was a sense of panic among Bengali Muslims about the current state of affairs, where migrant workers were being picked up at random and detained.
The advocate also alleged that some of the migrant workers were being tortured in such detention centres. 'Even Foreigners Act does not give authority for this, even if someone is termed a foreigner," Bhushan said.
The court then issued notice and sought the responses of the Union government and the Odisha, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and West Bengal governments.
It also declined to issue an interim restraining order without first hearing the government authorities.
The matter was listed for further hearing on August 25.
In July, non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch said India should stop unlawfully deporting people to Bangladesh without due process.
The organisation said that the government should instead 'ensure everyone's access to procedural safeguards to protect against arbitrary detention and expulsion'.