Muslim migrant workers from West Bengal at a detention centre in Bengaluru | Photo: Maktoob Media
Senior Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written to Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, raising concerns over the alleged profiling, detention and harassment of Bengali-speaking Indian citizens during police operations aimed at identifying undocumented Bangladeshi nationals in Bengaluru.
In a letter dated August 13, Chowdhury alleged that police action had disproportionately affected Bengali-speaking Muslims, particularly migrant workers from West Bengal’s Murshidabad district. He claimed that local authorities had resorted to excessive measures and procedural violations during the verification drive, Maktoob Media reported.
Chowdhury noted that a large number of Bengali-speaking migrant workers from West Bengal were Indian citizens who had moved to Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka for employment in daily-wage, unskilled and semi-skilled occupations. He said similarities in language and appearance between some Bengali-speaking Indians and Bangladeshi nationals had made these workers vulnerable to mistaken identity and, consequently, alleged harassment.
The former MP referred specifically to reports from Siddapura and Whitefield, including areas under the Varthur police station limits, where several migrants from Murshidabad were allegedly questioned or harassed on suspicion of being Bangladeshi despite possessing documents establishing their Indian citizenship.
While acknowledging the Karnataka government’s responsibility to identify undocumented immigrants, Chowdhury argued that such verification exercises should not result in the intimidation or targeting of Indian citizens on the basis of their language or religious identity. He urged the Chief Minister to direct the police to prevent arbitrary profiling and ensure that all verification procedures followed due process.
In his letter, Chowdhury also cited allegations that at least 955 people, including women and children, had been detained across nine police station jurisdictions in and around Bengaluru.
According to the details provided, Varthur Police allegedly detained 41 people, including women, while a 30-year-old man was reportedly seriously injured after an alleged assault by four police personnel. More than 200 people, including women and children, were allegedly detained by Bandepalya Police from four slum settlements.
The letter further alleged that around 150 people were detained in the Hebbagodi area and that their mobile phones were confiscated. Parappana Agrahara Police allegedly detained more than 400 people from Kudlu, Rayasandra, Shanthipura and Choodasandra. The remaining detentions cited in the letter included around 75 people in the Somasundrapalya area, 40 under HAL Police, four under Whitefield Police, 15 under Mahadevapura Police and 30 under Marathahalli Police.
Separately, Trinamool Congress rebel MP Abu Taher Khan wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on August 12, seeking intervention over the alleged treatment of Bengali migrant workers in Karnataka.
Khan claimed that nearly 1,900 migrant workers from West Bengal, including about 250 from Murshidabad, were stranded in different parts of Karnataka, including areas covered by the Whitefield, Varthur and Shivajinagar police jurisdictions.
He also referred to an incident in Thubrahalli Extension, where a group of five or six people, allegedly not wearing police uniforms, reportedly visited a settlement of Bengali migrant workers near a vegetable garden and demanded identity documents.
Khan said that although the Karnataka government was entitled to continue efforts to identify undocumented immigrants, including Bangladeshi nationals, he objected to the manner in which the verification drive was allegedly conducted.
He urged the Union Home Ministry to coordinate with the Karnataka government to ensure the safety and welfare of the migrant workers, facilitate their safe and dignified return to West Bengal where necessary, and establish a helpline and appoint nodal officers in both Karnataka and West Bengal.
The political interventions come amid allegations by civil liberties groups, lawyers’ organisations and trade unions that hundreds of predominantly poor, daily-wage migrant workers were detained during the Bengaluru police verification drive.
The Peoples Union for Civil Liberties, All India Lawyers Association for Justice, Domestic Workers Rights Union and All India Central Council of Trade Unions alleged that police personnel entered workers’ settlements, demanded identity documents and detained some people despite the production of valid papers. The organisations also accused police personnel of assaulting workers, confiscating mobile phones and examining private messages and call records.