Latest news with #ReetobrotoKumarMitra
Mint
3 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
Bengali or Bangladeshi? Calcutta HC questions Centre for targeting Bengali-speakers, ‘sends wrong message'
Calcutta High Court on Wednesday questioned the Centre the rationale behind country-wide raids targeting Bengali-speaking individuals suspecting them to be illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. This comes after West Bengal government told the Calcutta HC that the development is 'alarming'. The court later asked both Centre and the state government to submit affidavits accordingly A division bench of Justices, Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra, who were hearing the case, questioned, "What were the reasons? Was this pre- planned?" "Let these issues be cleared. Else, it will send out a wrong message. This could be a wrongful act. Allegations have been made that people are being illegally deported to Bangladesh just because they speak Bengali," it said. The Court was hearing a Habeas Corpus petitions filed by the family members of Birbhum migrants deported to Bangladesh last month. Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, who appeared for the State of West Bengal before a Division Bench, noted that the Delhi Police cannot detain people for speaking Bengali, and further said, 'This is a family from Birbhum district... Who will decide if someone is Bangladeshi? Not the police, but the appropriate authority… All these cases, I have gone through the reports, it is very alarming,'He also demanded that the Centre report how many people have been deported to Bangladesh so far. Responding to it, the counsel representing the Central government asserted that no individual has been deported solely for speaking Bengali. 'Around 165 people in Kashmir, including some who spoke Bengali, were detained after Pahalgam attack but all of them were released later.' He also pointed out that the relatives of those who were deported have already moved the Delhi High Court, a detail that, he argued, has been deliberately withheld in the present case. The Bench pulled up the petitioner's counsel for hiding this fact, warning that the Court process cannot be misused. 'Don't play tricks on us,' the Bench said.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Calcutta HC seeks affidavits from Centre, Bengal and Delhi govts on deportation of Bengali migrant family
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday sought affidavits from the Union government, the West Bengal government and the Delhi government in connection with the arrest and alleged deportation of a Bengali-speaking migrant family from Birbhum district. The court move came on a habeas corpus petition filed by the relatives of the family. The matter will be heard next on August 6. A division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra issued the directions after being informed that parallel proceedings on the same matter were pending before the Delhi High Court — details that had not been disclosed in the current plea. Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Raghunath Chakraborty submitted that the whereabouts of the detained family remain unknown. Delhi Police counsel Dhiraj Trivedi told the court that a writ petition had been filed in Delhi High Court challenging the deportation, but was dismissed after the deportation was carried out. 'They were deported in June, that is in the Delhi High Court order. The matter is pending in that High Court. They have suppressed the facts in this court,' he said. Additional Solicitor General Ashok Chakraborty, appearing for the Union government, submitted: 'If the order of deportation is executed, how is there a habeas corpus?' Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, representing the West Bengal government, said, 'Let them (the Centre) file how many Bengalis have been detained and how many Bengalis have been pushed back (into Bangladesh).' The court expressed displeasure over the petitioners not disclosing that they had already approached the Delhi High Court. After the order was dictated, Banerjee told the bench: 'Who will decide (who is to be detained)? The appropriate authority is not the police or constable. You cannot pick up someone just because they are speaking Bengali. There are procedures. These three or four cases are very alarming.' The bench also orally asked during the hearing whether there was any basis to allegations that Bengali-speaking people were being picked up and deported from various states 'suddenly' in June, though no formal order was passed on this point. The ASG submitted that under the Foreigners Act, individuals without valid passports or visas can be deported. Responding to that, the Deputy Solicitor General told the court, 'After the Pahalgam attack, people in Kashmir were also rounded up, and everyone was released. People speaking Bengali were not picked up and deported. Hundreds were rounded up, but most were released.' According to Bhodu Sheikh of Birbhum, his daughter Sunali Khatun, son-in-law Danish Sheikh, and their minor son were deported by officers of the K N Katju Marg police station under Delhi's Rohini police district on June 26. He claimed the family had travelled to Delhi on May 5 and were detained on June 18. Anjela Bibi, a relative from Murarai in Birbhum, also alleged that the family — who worked as waste pickers — were picked up from Bengali Basti in Rohini's Sector 26, along with three others from Birbhum. As per entries in a Delhi Police general diary, the detained persons allegedly told police they were from Bagerhat, Bangladesh. They were subsequently handed over to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), and later to the Border Security Force (BSF), before being deported.
