SIR worries Malda migrant who was pushed to B’desh
Times of India | 1 November 2025
Malda: Amir Sheikh, after spending a tumultuous few months, had hoped things would gradually settle down following his "return" from Bangladesh in mid-Aug. But the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of poll rolls has made him anxious again.
Amir's father Jiyem Sk does not figure on the 2002 voters' list after SIR, and Amir himself does not have a voter card (EPIC).
The 22-year-old migrant labourer from Malda was labelled as a Bangladeshi and forcibly pushed into that country by Rajasthan Police and BSF through Bengal's Ghojadanga border on June 25. His family was never informed. After a Malda local spotted him in Bangladesh, he shot a video of Amir crying for help.
The July 2 video went viral, and his family learned of his plight. Jiyem moved Calcutta High Court with a habeas corpus plea, alleging that his youngest son had been "secretly deported to Bangladesh".
The Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Board and Malda Congress MP Isha Khan Choudhury also kept fighting for his cause. Amir finally "returned" to India on Aug 13.
Since then, Amir has not returned to Rajasthan and earns his living by driving a Toto.
However, what troubles him now is the introduction of SIR. He does not have an EPIC, although he has an Aadhaar card and a birth certificate.
"It is not uncommon for migrant labourers," said Nazim Ahmed, an NGO worker, "as often, when the EPIC is issued, they are out of state". But what concerns Amir more is the fact that his father Jiyem Sk's name does not appear on the voters' list of 2002.
Jiyem said: "I did not have an EPIC then. However, I have land records dating back to 1932, along with my Aadhaar card. I also have an EPIC now. But the SIR 2002 list includes the name of my father, Amir's grandfather." But Amir lives in fear. "I was jailed and pushed to Bangladesh despite having all papers. I do not trust them anymore," he said.