Kolkata, Sep 9 (IANS): Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday wrote a letter to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, expressing concern over the detention of Bengali speaking workers on the suspicion of being Bangladeshis in Chhattisgarh and other states.
In an X post, the former Baharampur MP said, “Written to Union Home Minister @AmitShah Ji expressing grave concern over reports of arbitrary profiling & detention of Bengali-speaking Indian workers as alleged “Bangladeshis” in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur & other states.”
The Congress leader said that those who have been detained have valid government ID cards, thus proving their Indian nationality.
“As per media reports, those detained—including women, domestic workers & impoverished labourers—allegedly hold valid Voter IDs & Aadhaar cards. Despite these reports, they are being subjected to custodial harassment without proper verification, separating families & violating constitutional rights.”
The senior Congress leader demanded the intervention of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in this regard to stop this detention.
“Bengali is India’s second most-spoken language (9.72+ crore speakers) & an official language under the 8th Schedule. @MHAIndia must urgently intervene, halt arbitrary detentions, and establish strict protocols against linguistic profiling,” Chowdhury said.
He concluded by saying, “If the State considers the Bengali language itself a threat, let a resolution be brought to Parliament to remove Bengali from the 8th Schedule. As long as Bengali remains constitutionally protected, no citizen should be forced to prove their patriotism for speaking their mother tongue.”
It may be noted that Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam also raised the same issue and demanded the intervention of West Bengal government and Chhattisgarh Police in this regard.
He also demanded the immediate release of the detained workers and stop the harassment of Bengali speaking workers from West Bengal in others states.
It was learnt that the migrant labourers who have been detained in Chhattisgarh hail from Murshidabad district’s Suti Police Station area. They were working in Bilaspur district as hawkers and labourers.
