Mamata seeks Majhi help over Odisha hate crimes on Bengalis
Times of India | 12 August 2024
Kolkata/Bhubaneswar: Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday called up Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi, seeking his intervention into reports of workers from Bengal in Odisha being assaulted, intimidated and abused as "Bangladeshis" by local vigilante groups.
Odisha govt has asked police to remain vigilantfollowing reports of such incidents.
Banerjee also sought Majhi's help to facilitate the return to Bengal of any such worker, should they want to, said Bengal govt sources.
The attacks or incidents of harassment were reported from Jajpur, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur and Sambalpur districts. In most cases, local residents confronted roadside vendors and workers speaking Bengali and asked them to show documents to prove they were not illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
In Sambalpur, a group of local people forced more than 30 Bengali-speaking workers to go to Ainthapali PS. They were let off after police verified their documents and found such charges baseless.
In a video, one of several that have surfaced on X, a hawker — who claims he is from Nadia's Ranaghat, and now stays in Kendrapara — is being assaulted for not having an Aadhaar card while he is selling goods stacked on a bicycle. While he attempts to show his attackers a soft copy of his Aadhaar on his cellphone, he is assaulted for not having a "genuine" one. An attacker is heard saying that he was a Bangladeshi. In the other video, a Muslim man says he suffered a bleeding forehead after he was assaulted on suspicion of being a Bangladeshi. The other two videos are also similar.
"There were no major incidents of violence and police have acted promptly in isolated cases of Bengali-speaking people being targeted. We are alert to prevent any untoward incident. Action will be taken against the guilty," said Odisha DGP Arun Sarangi.
The state's law minister, Prithiviraj Harichandan, said Odisha govt would soon begin the process of verifying identities of Bangladeshi citizens entering Odisha without valid papers.TURNS HERE
"While govt is committed to protect refugees who have come during different points of time earlier and were rehabilitated as per law, we will take steps to stop infiltrators. Govt will identify the infiltrators from any country and deport them," he told reporters.
The minister said Majhi had instructed authorities to take steps to stop illegal immigrants from entering the country. "The Indian Coast Guard and Marine Police are on alert," he said.
Senior Bengal govt officials told TOI that Majhi had promised Banerjee of help. The Bengal Migrant Welfare Board has also started a helpline — 18001030009 — which people, facing such attacks, could dial for assistance.
Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam, who chairs the state migrant welfare board, confirmed Banerjee's call to Majhi and the setting up of the helpline. "I urge anyone facing such problems to call the helpline for help," he added.