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The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
‘Migrant worker sent to Bangladesh booked in neighbouring country for illegal entry'
A migrant worker from West Bengal, who was pushed into Bangladesh by security agencies, has been booked for 'illegally entering' the neighbouring country, State's Migrant Welfare Board chief Samirul Islam said on Tuesday. Mr. Islam, who is also a Trinamool Congress MP, was referring to the detention and 'pushback' of Amir Sheikh from Kaliachak. He was picked up from Rajasthan in May this year and sent to Bangladesh. 'Interestingly, there was no way to repatriate Mr. Amir except through legal intervention, as he had been tagged under a case involving illegal entry into Bangladesh. Amid such a situation, the Central government is now trying to repatriate Mr. Amir to his Malda home to save face and avoid the legal blow for the illegal pushback,' the chairperson of migrant welfare board posted on social media. Earlier this month, the father of Mr. Amir filed a habeas corpus petition before the Calcutta High Court and the court has sought response from Rajasthan government and Union government. The matter is likely to come up for hearing later this week. Imprisoned for weeks A video of the 19-year-old migrant worker has also surfaced on social media where he can be seen in tears seeking help for repatriation. According to his parents, Jiyem Sheikh and Renu Bibi, he was picked up by the police from Rajasthan in May 2025 and sent to Bangladesh by security agencies and was kept in prison for a few weeks. The parents have produced all documents including their passport, shared a video in which their son is narrating his plight asking for help and sought intervention from district officials. But their son is yet to come home. Hundreds of Bengali-speaking migrants have faced alleged detention and harassment in different States across the country and asked to produce documents to prove they are not Bangladeshi nationals. Some of the migrant workers were also pushed into Bangladesh but later repatriated with the help of Indian authorities, Mr. Islam said. The Trinamool Congress has blamed the Central government for the plight of Mr. Amir, who continues to languish in a prison in Bangladesh.
Time of India
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Mamata Banerjee directs officials to draft scheme for return of Bengali migrant workers
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel In a bid to facilitate the reverse exodus of Bengali-speaking migrant workers , West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken steps to float a scheme and has directed Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, Judicial Minister Moloy Ghatak, and Migrant Welfare Board Chairman Samirul Islam to formulate a plan for migrant workers."We have to stand by people who are tortured outside Bengal. Around 22 lakh migrant workers are outside the state. Samirul Islam and Moloy Ghatak should sit with the Chief Secretary and hold a meeting and design a scheme to bring these workers back to Bengal. The migrant workers, who are willing, should come back to Bengal and work here. The Bengali migrants have residence here. Otherwise, I will set up camps for them. We should issue Swasthya Sathi, the health cards, to these people. They should be included in the Karmashree scheme of the state government, where we provide 50 days work," Banerjee West Bengal government had floated the Karmashree project after the Centre stopped funds for the 100-days speaking at an administrative meeting in Birbhum, spoke about how Bengali-speaking migrants in Gurgaon, Haryana, and other states are being tortured. "They are sent to detention camps. In Maharashtra, one worker has been dismembered and murdered. We cannot accept this. A child was also tortured. The Rajbanshis and Matuas are not spared.""A scheme should be floated. With economic development happening in Bengal, the migrant brothers and sisters should get work in Bengal. Officers went for training in Delhi. DMs must be more alert," Banerjee Para Amader Samadhan is aimed to resolve minor issues faced by the people locally in their paras. This has to be completed by the second week of November. Monitoring teams have to be set up in the districts. "The DMs should have informed us that more than 1,000 people were taken for training in Delhi. The BLOs should make sure that no names are removed from the voter lists."Banerjee pointed out how Bengali-speaking people are tortured. "The Assam government is sending letters to Rajbanshis in Cooch Behar and Alipurduar. People are kept in 10 detention camps in Gurgaon. Rajbanshis, Matuas, Dalits, Tapashilis, and minorities are tortured in states like Maharashtra, Delhi," Banerjee Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will also hold her first rally against "linguistic terrorism" in Bengal's Birbhum district on Monday, which she calls a "second language movement" against torture and harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in BJP-ruled states.
Indian Express
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Bengal alleges Odisha detained nearly 100 of its migrants as Bangladeshis
Amid Odisha's crackdown on 'illegal immigrants' in the state since May, fresh discord bubbled up with its neighbouring state after the West Bengal government alleged that nearly 100 migrant workers from the state have been allegedly detained and 'sent to detention centres' on suspicion of being Bangladeshis. According to TMC Rajya Sabha MP and chairman of the state's Migrant Welfare Board Samirul Islam, 'top administrative officials and police officers, under the instructions of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, have reached out to their counterparts in Odisha' regarding the issue. 'But they are not releasing the poor migrant workers,' Samirul Islam said. 'What has happened is unconstitutional'. 'They are Indian citizens and residents of Bengal. They have gone to Odisha for work. But they have been detained and labelled Bangladeshis. They have been sent to the detention centre,' he said. 'We will bring them home'. Targeting the CM Mohan Majhi-led Odisha government, Samirul Islam said, 'In state after state, under BJP rule, this is happening.' The development in Odisha comes after seven persons, including four youths and a couple, from West Bengal, who had been picked up by the Maharashtra Police and pushed into Bangladesh, were brought back last week following the intervention of the TMC government in West Bengal. According to government sources, Bengal administration officials and the police are in touch with their Odisha counterparts and have furnished residential documents of those detained and pressed for their immediate release and return. Contacted regarding the developments, a senior Odisha government official told The Indian Express that verifications are being done as part of a nationwide exercise in view of the recent developments in the neighbourhood. 'No one is being detained at any police station. We are just verifying their identities and are also in touch with the West Bengal government,' the official said. 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
