2 days ago
‘Getting Rs 1,000 per day, safer place': After Odisha detention, why Bengal migrant worker has moved to Tamil Nadu
Detained in Odisha last month along with more than 400 others on suspicion of being illegal Bangladeshis, Sainur Islam, 34, became a talking point in the West Bengal migrant issue after his family moved the Calcutta High Court over the matter. Weeks later, however, Sainur left his home state and moved to Tamil Nadu.
'I heard that in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, there is no harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants. It is safe for us, unlike in Odisha, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and others,' Sainur, who arrived in Chennai on July 28, said, speaking over the phone to The Indian Express. A resident of Hariharpara in Murshidabad district, he is currently working in Ayapakkam in Tamil Nadu's Thiruvallur district.
The incident sparked a controversy in West Bengal, with Trinamool Congress MPs like Mahua Moitra and Samirul Islam highlighting the matter and threatening to go to court.
While Sainur was released four days later, his father filed a habeas corpus petition at the Calcutta High Court with the help of the West Bengal Migrant Labour Welfare Board. The case is ongoing, and the high court has summoned the Odisha advocate general.
'I returned home, but I could not find any jobs. I have been working in Odisha for the last 20 years as a construction worker,' Sainur said. 'I called up contractors and sought a job opportunity. I cannot sit idle at home. I stay with my wife and 14-year-old son, who is in Class 7. He gets private tuitions. I have to take care of my mother and father,' he added.
Saying that he had a pending loan of Rs 1 lakh, Sainur said, 'Nine months (of EMI) is due. So when I got an offer of Rs 1,000 a day in Tamil Nadu, I accepted it. In Odisha, I got paid Rs 700.'
Sainur's advocate Shabnam Sultana said the Calcutta High Court has directed the advocate general of Odisha to appear physically in court on August 29, when the next hearing will take place. 'Our stand is that through the detention, the man's fundamental right has been violated. There has been a breach of legal process, since they were not produced to a local court within the stipulated time. They were detained for four days,' Sultana said.
Saying that Sainur was free to work anywhere, Sultana added, 'Now the illegal detention and compensation part will be heard in court.'
'It is only natural that a migrant will move out for better pay. Apart from the fact that there is no proper job for them here to match the standard they used to live, the state government is yet to announce any scheme for work and rehabilitation to those who have returned or are returning from other states,' Arnab Pal, the convenor of the Paschim Banga Parijayi Sramik Aikya Manch (Joint Platform of West Bengal Migrant Labourers), said.
