Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs Mahua Moitra and Samirul Islam have raised serious concerns after around 444 migrant workers from West Bengal were reportedly detained by Odisha Police on suspicion of being “Bangladeshi nationals.”
Mahua Moitra, on Wednesday, stated that 23 of the detained workers hail from Mirzapur village in her Nadia Constituency and were allegedly held illegally in Jharsuguda, Odisha. She called upon the Odisha government to ensure their immediate release and demanded that such detentions be handled with transparency and due process.
Through a social media post, Moitra drew the attention of the Chief Secretary and the DGP of Odisha as well. Taking to X, she stated: “23 workers from Nadia being held in illegal detention in Jharsuguda. I urge @SecyChief @DGPOdisha to release immediately. Never happened in 24 years of @Naveen_Odisha & now it is daily occurrence. Do not think there is no-one to fight for these workers.” TMC MP Samirul Islam also condemned the repeated incidents of atrocities on Bengali-speaking migrant workers in Odisha’s Jharsuguda district. “The BJP-ruled Odisha government recently detained over 200 migrant workers from various districts of Bengal, including Murshidabad, Birbhum, Malda, Nadia, East Burdwan and South 24-Parganas, on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals,” Islam said on social media.
“This is a fresh round of detentions by the BJP-ruled Odisha government, following the earlier confinement of hundreds of migrant workers from Bengal. What is their fault? That they speak Bengali? What grudge do @narendramodi and @AmitShah hold against these poor Bengalis? Despite our repeated appeals, the top BJP leadership seems least bothered to address the plight of these Bengali-speaking individuals,” he added further.
Islam also stated: “We have already moved the court. If this barbaric attitude continues, we will launch a larger movement against such practices. Our Chief Secretary has also written to Chief Secretary Odisha regarding the plight of the Bengali speaking migrant population. Our Chief Minister, @MamataOfficial, has already made it clear: Bengal will not tolerate any move that causes suffering to our people working in other states.”
“A WITCH HUNT is underway against Bengalis in BJP-ruled states…Even after providing valid citizenship documents, our workers are being labelled “foreigners” and “illegal migrants.” This is nothing short of XENOPHOBIC PERSECUTION,” Trinamool Congress posted on X.