Bengali Migrant Worker Issue
Bengali Migrant Worker Issue | বাংলা বললেই বাংলাদেশি! হরিয়ানাতে পরিচয়পত্র দেখার পরও আটক বাঙালিদের | Zee 24 Ghanta
Bengali Migrant Worker Issue | Branded Bangladeshi for Speaking Bengali! Bengalis Detained in Haryana Despite Showing ID | Zee 24 Ghanta
Bengali Migrant Worker Issue | Branded Bangladeshi for Speaking Bengali! Bengalis Detained in Haryana Despite Showing ID | Zee 24 Ghanta
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Updated:
Jul 27, 2025, 04:15 PM IST
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Bengali Migrant Worker Issue | Branded Bangladeshi for Speaking Bengali! Bengalis Detained in Haryana Despite Showing ID | Zee 24 Ghanta
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Time of India
43 minutes ago
- Time of India
Made-up identities: How Bangladeshi immigrants used disguises, fake documents to evade detection
New Delhi: Over 2,100 Bangladeshi nationals living in the capital were deported in 2024-25, mostly this year, with the highest number, 370, deported from Outer Delhi district. It was followed closely by North West Delhi, from where 226 Bangladeshi nationals were sent back, according to data released by Delhi Police on Tuesday. Police discovered that Bangladeshi immigrants were using various tactics to evade detection in India, including disguising themselves as transgender individuals and living on the streets, with some even undergoing gender-affirming surgery to alter their physical appearance. The cops cited the examples of Mohammad Raisul Islam, 27, and Mohammad Ebrahim Howlader, 26, two transgender individuals. They were apprehended on July 23 from beneath the Bhalswa Dairy flyover in North West Delhi. Both individuals admitted to their original nationality as Bangladeshi. The two claimed to have undergone gender-affirming surgery to alter their physical appearance to resemble women. "They used heavy makeup, wore sarees or salwar suits, used artificial hair (wigs) and adorned themselves with feminine accessories," an officer revealed. "Some others modified their voice and body language to closely mimic female mannerisms in an attempt to conceal their true identity. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Why Seniors Are Snapping Up This TV Box, We Explain! Techno Mag Learn More Undo These two individuals were involved in begging during the daytime. " You Can Also Check: Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi On June 28, five other Bangladeshi nationals engaged in begging were found presenting themselves as transgender women in North West Delhi. Police said during questioning, they admitted to adopting these disguises and even undergoing minor surgeries and hormonal treatments to alter their sex and appearance in an attempt to evade detection. The inquiry revealed that these calculated efforts appeared to be aimed at blending into densely populated areas and leveraging social sensitivities towards women and transgender persons, thereby complicating routine identification and verification by enforcement agencies. Many of the illegal immigrants were found working in brick kilns in remote areas using fake Aadhaar cards, often procured with the help of traffickers, to find jobs. Some immigrants were also found to have purchased properties in West Bengal using fake IDs to establish local residency. On June 4, 18 Bangladeshi nationals were nabbed in North West Delhi's Bharat Nagar. These families began by working as labourers in brick-making factories in Haryana before shifting to slum clusters in the city. To manage the illegal immigrants, temporary detention centres have been set up in community halls, while two permanent facilities operate in Lampur (Outer Delhi) and Sarai Rohilla (North West Delhi). These centres provide basic amenities such as food, water, and shelter, and can accommodate 50 to 60 individuals. Some of the temporary centres are located in Roop Nagar (North Delhi), Samaypur Badli (Outer Delhi) and Vijay Vihar (Northwest Delhi). Additional centres are situated in Bhadola village (North West Delhi) and Seelampur (Shahdara). A police officer said the creation of temporary detention centres depended on the number of illegal immigrants detained at any given time. The authorities identify suitable locations that can be quickly converted into shelters to hold illegal immigrants. Police said multiple teams work on tracing and verifying the migrants. "One team detains the individuals, while another visits the states they claim as their residence to verify if they actually live there," an officer revealed. "After verification, if they are found to be illegal immigrants, they are handed over to the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office, which places them in detention centres." On deportation, they are sent by train to certain place from where they are escorted across the border by security forces. Sometimes, they are also sent via flights. According to police, local traffickers from Bangladesh, with the help of Indian contacts, send immigrants to India. The migrants often travel by train to Delhi, where local contacts assist them in obtaining Aadhaar and PAN cards — often by using their original Bangladeshi IDs. Others help them find employment as labourers, ragpickers and low-wage workers.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Harassed by cops & mob for citizenship proof, say Kargil War veteran's kin in Pune
Pune: A Kargil War veteran's family in Chandannagar has alleged harassment by the Pune police and a group of unidentified individuals, who stormed their residence around 11.30pm on July 26, asking them to prove their Indian citizenship. Two other members in the family were veterans of the 1965 and 1971 wars. The family members claimed that all the men were then taken to the Chandannagar police station around midnight. "We were told to wait until 3am and produce documents to prove our citizenship, failing which we were threatened that we would be declared illegal immigrants from Bangladesh or Rohingya," a member of the family told TOI. Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar on Tuesday told TOI: "The deputy commissioner of police (DCP) for the zone is investigating the matter. If any negligence is found on the part of the police, we will take appropriate action against the personnel involved." You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune He said: "Preliminary investigations revealed that the police personnel did not forcibly enter the house. However, there are allegations by the family regarding the issue. The DCP is verifying the claims." DCP (Zone IV) Somay Munde said: "The family was only asked to produce documents after our team visited the spot based on inputs about some Bangladeshi nationals illegally staying in the locality." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like No annual fees for life UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Hakimuddin Shaikh (58), who retired as a Naik Havildar from the Indian Army's 269 Engineer Regiment of Corps of Engineers, said: "I served the nation with pride for 16 years, from 1984 to 2000, and even fought the Kargil War in 1999. I am an Indian citizen, and my entire family belongs to this nation just as I do. Then why are we being asked to prove our citizenship? We never imagined something like this would happen to my family. " Hakimuddin lived in Pune until 2013 before moving to their hometown. However, the rest of his family members, including brothers, nephews, and their wives, still live in Pune, and they were all asked to prove their citizenship on the night of July 26. The family, originally from Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh, shifted to Pune in 1960. Hakimuddin's brother, Irshad Shaikh, said: "Not just my brother, but my two uncles, Shaikh Naeemuddin, who retired from the infantry unit of the Indian Army, and Shaikh Mohammad Salim, who was with the Army's Engineering regiment, also served the nation. Both of them fought in the 1965 and 1971 wars for the country." He said: "What shocked us the most was that it wasn't the police leading the group, but a group of 30-40 unidentified men who were demanding that our family members show them documents. The intruders were shouting slogans when a policeman in plain clothes stopped them. A police van was parked at a distance from our house, where a uniformed officer was waiting." Hakimuddin's nephew Naushad Shaikh said: "Even when we produced documents like Aadhaar cards to prove our citizenship, the individuals who were shouting at everyone, including women and children from our family, said the documents were fake. The individuals were behaving like goons, as some of them were even kicking the door, asking women to wake up and show their documents." Nawab Shaikh, another nephew of Hakimuddin, said he was born in Pune and lived in the city all these years. "When such things happen, common people reach out to the police for help. But when the police themselves help a mob, it is difficult to understand who we should go to," he said. Yet another nephew, Shamshad Shaikh, said: "We were called to the police station the day after the incident. After keeping us waiting for over two hours, we were informed that the police inspector is not coming, and that we can leave. Our documents are still with them." He said the family was yet to understand why the police team had come with a mob late at night instead of directly asking them to show documents. DCP Munde said: "Our team visited the spot based on some information and asked them to show their documents. When it was found that they were Indian nationals staying in the city, we allowed them to go. We have a video recording of the police team's visit to the spot. Our team was not accompanied by any third party."
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Caught between identity, survival: Tale of a Gurugram exodus
For Rashida Bibi, Fridays are virtually luxurious. That day, one of the families she works for gives her a weekly break, another makes work trips to Delhi so they leave early, and a third hosts an event so they hire specialised staff. That means instead of 5.30am, she wakes up at a leisurely 8am. Her sore muscles are allowed some rest, her chai simmers longer, and her trip to the market is more of a canter and not the usual dash. The only people who grudge her Fridays are her two children, aged eight and five, who spend a tense morning under the watchful eyes of a mother anxious about their progress in school. Over the past week, nearly 1,000 families of Bengali-speaking migrant workers have packed up and left Gurugram in hired trucks and buses.(HT Photo) Last Friday, though, was anything but languid. Crouched on the floor of her shanty made of corrugated tin sheets held aloft by sticks of bamboo, Bibi sorted her family's meagre belongings into essential and disposable. Stained sheets, sarees, and her husband's lungis and shirts in one steel box, the children's books and documents into the almost new suitcase her employers gave her last year, and pots and pans she had painstakingly collected over the years into a makeshift tarp bundle. Some plastic buckets, a stack of dented plates, and a crumpled towel didn't make the cut. 'Maybe if we come back..' her voice trailed off. The migrant worker from Bengal's Murshidabad district wasn't alone. Over the past week, nearly 1,000 families of Bengali-speaking migrant workers have packed up and left Gurugram in hired trucks and buses, spooked by the city police's drive targeting undocumented immigrants. The administration has said that they are targeting undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants – part of a wider national drive across multiple states – but migrant workers allege that the opaque process has triggered anxiety and fear among poor Bengali-speaking people, forcing them to abandon their posts as sanitation workers, domestic helps, cooks, guards, and auto and rickshaw drivers. Moreover, the demand for papers beyond the usual Aadhaar or voter identity cards has caused consternation. 'This is what the government asks us to have every time. How will I get more papers? Where is the time?' Bibi asked. Rush to flee crackdown In a narrow lane behind the glittering towers of Sector 69 in Gurugram, a worn-out truck stood idling last Friday morning. Around it, families stuffed their belongings— rolled mattresses, plastic buckets, bags of clothes, battered utensils — into the open container. Aisha Khatun tried to keep her crying children calm as they clung to her kurta, begging not to leave their school and friends. 'We came here to earn with dignity,' said Khatun, a domestic worker who had lived here for three years. 'Now we are being treated like criminals. I am scared every time I hear a knock at the door. My neighbour told me the police took her husband without any notice.' In her neighbourhood, each family paid ₹25,000 to ₹30,000 to arrange their return, a bulk of it spent on transport and emergency expenses. This included truck rentals, fuel, agents, and basic provisions. 'All the money we had saved in three years was spent in a single night,' said Shabana Parveen, a resident of slums near Sector 57. 'We didn't even get our salary since we left without any notice. Our employer said they will transfer it later on UPI, but I don't even have a phone. I gave them my cousin's number.' A sudden, opaque process, say migrants The Gurugram Police drive began around July 7, in line with several similar such initiatives across the country, including in Delhi. Gurugram Police public relations officer Sandeep Kumar said the trigger was concerns about undocumented people. He also clarified that basic medical assistance and food were provided. 'There was a team assigned, but no critical medical issue arose,' he said. He added that out of over 250 picked up, only 10 were found to be actual undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh. 'All others were released after cross-verification. Everything was done under CCTV monitoring. No formal complaint of harassment was received,' he added. A senior police official blamed the panic on old videos. 'Gurugram Police have not beaten up or harasses anybody. We are just verifying the identity of migrants, and only those with no valid legal documents were detained earlier. We have reached out to the RWAs to help us in spreading awareness,' the official said. But migrant workers complain that the process was sudden and opaque, and complicated by the police's refusal to accept documents such as Aadhaar or voter IDs. 'They checked our documents and said that they have to confirm with some central list,' said Khatun. Rahim Sheikh from Badshahpur, who worked as a security guard, alleged he was detained for three days before being released. 'We were taken without notice. My wife kept waiting. I had no way to inform her. It was terrifying. We got food, but we didn't know if we would ever get out.' Nazma Sultana, a house help from Sector 46, said her husband was picked up but released later. 'He was scared out of his wits. We decided not to wait for another shock. We sold our fridge and fan to pay the truck guy.' The police said four community centres in Sector 10A, Badshapur, Sector 40 and Manesar were turned into temporary detention centres, but added that given the fear, they were changing their approach. 'We understand emotions are involved, and based on feedback, we have decided to alter our approach. Now, verification will be done locally at police beats, not at detention centres,' Kumar said. The city's underbelly People like Bibi, Khatun and Sheikh form a 400 million strong pool of internal migrants who travel from under-developed sinks in rural Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh to megacities such as Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Chennai or Hyderabad. Informal networks of kinship make this possible – Bibi, for example, came to Gurugram four years ago following the footsteps of her husband and his elder brother, who has since moved to Hyderabad. In India's metropolises that thrive on a vast but informal underbelly of civic services, migrants plug important gaps by serving in a wide range of professions. The compact might be uneasy - it took Bibi's family almost a year to occupy a permanent shanty – but it is rewarding. 'In my village, I would just be cooking and tilling someone else's fields. Here I was earning almost ₹30,000,' she said. But the recent drive upset this balance, triggering fear that the mere sound of unfamiliar or unpolished Bengali was enough to trigger suspicion. 'We started getting calls that people were being detained and sent to jail. They said there would be no bail,' said Jamal Mondal, who lived in Sector 55. 'I called a relative in Kolkata who helped arrange a truck. 45 of us left the next day.' Abdul Karim, a truck driver from Kolkata who came to deliver goods in Manesar, said he was hired by the families to ferry them back. 'They begged me with tears in their eyes. I took two full trucks of families back. The kids cried the whole way.' Mohammad Rafiq, another driver from Howrah, said he came to Gurugram to deliver marble. 'On my return, I took back 35 people,' he said. Last Saturday, HT spotted 10 trucks ferrying household goods out of slum clusters across South City 2, Sector 45, Sector 47, Palam Vihar, Sector 109, Sector 69–70, Sector 57, Wazirabad, and Badshahpur. City without 'help' The urban villages that grew like moss around upscale neighbourhoods in Gurugram are now depleted. And across the (class) divide, there is some alarm too, but for different reasons. 'Our maid left overnight. No warning,' said Reema Singh, a South City 2 resident. 'Now I do chores, work full-time, and manage a toddler. It's exhausting.' Rajiv Mehta, who lives in Sector 48, concurred. 'Our car washer disappeared. He was from West Bengal. He had been with us for five years. Now, even if others come, how do we ensure they won't leave tomorrow?' Some residents expressed empathy. 'My wife is a teacher, and I am in a sales job. Without our house help, everything is haywire,' said Vinay Malhotra. 'But we are not angry at them. They left because they were scared.' Imran Ali, a cook from Sector 57, said his employer helped him leave. 'He gave me ₹2,000 and said, 'Take care of your family.' But not everyone was that lucky. Some employers didn't even return their calls.' The departure has also triggered ripples in the city's fringe zones, where rental homes in areas such as Wazirabad, Chakkarpur, and Sikanderpur now sit empty. 'Won't detain anyone but will continue verification' Gurugram Police now say they will not detain anyone, but that verification will continue. 'We are not holding anybody, but the verification is continuing. Now, only those who come across as very suspicious will be detained,' said Kumar. Many who left Gurugram said it might be too late. 'We paid rent, followed rules, worked with dignity, and yet, we had to escape like criminals,' said Nazma. Some are certain they won't come back. 'We burnt our bridges,' said Anwar Hossain, who worked as a cook in DLF Phase 3. 'We ran, sold everything, spent every rupee. How can we come back?' Others aren't as sure. Bibi is now back in Bengal, secure in her large joint family where her sisters-in-law welcomed her. She is planning to travel to Kolkata and work there for a few months as whatever she can – cook, cleaner, helper. But she knows the market is saturated and the pay is far lower than what she was getting in Gurugram. 'We will have to go back,' she said. Noile khabo ki (What will we eat otherwise)?'
