Hawkers from Bengal in Odisha return after getting Bangladeshi tag
The Statesman | 15 August 2024
Overcoming the trauma of being harassed and beaten after being labelled as ‘Bangladeshis,’ 35 workers have returned to Bengal from Odisha.
Earlier, chief minister Mamata Banerjee urged Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi for their safety and security and safe return to Bengal from Odisha, if they wish to. Yesterday evening, they came back to their villages in Hariharpara, Murshidabad. Despite being Indian citizens, they claimed they were beaten and driven out of Odisha with the ‘Bangladeshi’ tag. Even with valid Aadhaar cards, they are unable to work in Odisha. Several traders from Hariharpara in Murshidabad, after facing such harassment, have finally returned to their villages.
On Monday evening, 35 hawkers from Shahzadpur, Malopara, Padmanabhpur, and Rukunpur in Hariharpara were forced to return home from Odisha. They alleged that the locals branded them Bangladeshis for speaking Bengali and even beat them up whenever they spoke their mother tongue. This incident of assault has spread on social media as well. After receiving this news, the Bengal administration took action and chief minister Mamata Banerjee spoke to Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi over phone about the issue, emphasizing the need to ensure the safety of Bengali workers.
However, the return of these workers from Hariharpara indicated that little has changed. One worker from Hariharpara, Badruddin Sheikh, was in Berhampur, Odisha. For the past 15-16 years, he had been hawking clothes and plastic goods in various villages in Odisha. Like other hawkers, he too was beaten and labelled a Bangladeshi, despite showing his Aadhaar card, which was dismissed as “invalid” in that state. Fearing for his life, Badruddin has returned to his village. This incident has once again raised concerns about the safety of migrant workers from West Bengal. According to sources at the West Bengal secretariat Nabanna, Majhi had assured her such incidents “would not be repeated”. The state government is stated to be keen on bringing these migrants back, with sources quoting the CM as “promising them employment” in the state.