West Bengal

IIE DIGITAL DESK : Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has accused the Odisha police of “illegal detention” of 23 migrant workers from Nadia district (Mirzapur village, Panighata GP) who are currently being held at the Orient police station’s interrogation centre in Jharsuguda. She claims these workers, like about 421 other Bengali‑speaking migrants, possess valid identity documents such as Aadhaar and voter ID cards but are still being treated as suspected Bangladeshi nationals and detained without due process .

In a strongly worded post on X (formerly Twitter), Moitra urged both the Odisha Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to immediately release the workers. She also highlighted that Andhra’s 24‑year BJD rule under Naveen Patnaik never saw such mass detentions, accusing the current BJP‑led government of targeting Bengali-speaking labourers .

Moitra emphasized that the detained individuals include 23 from Nadia’s Mirzapur village, alongside 421 others from districts like Murshidabad, Malda, Birbhum, Purba Bardhaman, and South 24 Parganas—all seized in recent weeks periodically from migrant colonies during raids in Jharsuguda. She warned of legal action and a larger political movement if this "targeted harassment" continues, including habeas corpus petitions for all 23 workers .

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam, chairing the Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board, echoed Moitra’s accusations. He stated that the detentions form a systematic pattern against Bengali speakers, raising the rhetorical question: “What is their fault? That they speak Bengali?” He also questioned whether national BJP leadership is even monitoring the situation . Islam noted that West Bengal's Chief Secretary, Manoj Pant, has formally protested to Odisha’s counterpart to halt these "barbaric" arrests .

According to official admissions in UNI reports and Moitra’s video message, Odisha authorities have detained not just 23 but 444 migrant workers, claiming suspicion of undocumented residency and foreign origin, including possible Bangladeshi or Rohingya identity . Inspector‑General Himanshu Lal, speaking to The Indian Express, defended the operation, stating that the detainees lacked valid documentation and were being verified under senior official oversight, with access to food, hygiene, and medical care.

In response, families from Birbhum and Murshidabad have submitted the workers’ documents to local police, demanding their release. The Express report quotes distressed relatives, including parents of Noor Mohammed and Hasimuddin Sheikh, stating the men have worked outside Bengal for years and face sudden, inexplicable detention.

Moitra also raised the economic consequences of such actions, urging Odisha to consider that Bengali tourists constitute “50 percent of Odisha’s tourism revenue” and warning, “What if Bengali tourists stop going to Odisha?” .

The episode follows similar incidents in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh, where Bengali-speaking workers have been detained or even subjected to push‑backs at the Bangladesh border, though later rescued following West Bengal government intervention.

The TMC alleges that 23 labourers from Nadia and dozens more across Bengal have been unlawfully detained in Odisha despite valid citizenship documents. Moitra and Islam warn of escalating political and legal responses, criticizing the BJP governments for what they term ethnolinguistic discrimination and undue hardships placed on migrant workers. The Odisha government, for its part, contends this is a lawful foreigners’ verification operation under due procedure and oversight.