‘Were made to eat stale food’, Bengal workers recall ordeal during detention in Odisha

Kolkata: Several migrant labourers who have recently returned from Odisha narrated their harrowing ordeal in the neighbouring state after an attempt was made to brand them as “Bangladeshi”.

Three residents from Murshidabad’s Hariharpara—Rakibul Islam, Sainul Islam and Hasibul Seikh—were working as construction labourers under a contractor from Baligoda in Jagatsinghpur in Odisha.

Reportedly, they claimed that they went to Odisha for work 20 years ago. They alleged that Odisha police took them from their workplace only for speaking Bengali.

Rakibul claimed that the police did not listen to what they had to say. Even the contractor did not intervene despite repeated pleas.

He claimed that despite having valid IDs like a passport, Aadhaar, Voter and Ration cards, he was detained and interrogated. He was asked why he had obtained a passport and if he had any connections with Bangladesh and Pakistan. He was also asked where his parents were born.

According to reports, Odisha Police also asked him to produce the land deed of their family back home before 1975. Bengal’s migrant labourers were allegedly kept in the detention camps where they were made to eat stale food and lie on the floor. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “A witch hunt is being carried out against the people of Bengal.

In @BJP4India-ruled states, Bengali-speaking workers are being harassed, unfairly detained, and even deported across the border.

Simultaneously, NRC notices are being slapped on legitimate Indian citizens solely for speaking Bangla.”