At Hakimpur border outpost in West Bengal, the road leading to Bangladesh is strewn with groups of people – men, women, children, young and old alike – squatting with bags, blankets, and boxes, waiting for their turn to cross over to the neighbouring country.
“We are scared. That is why we packed our bags and came here,” says Abdul Momin, squaring under a tree with his family as a bunch of bags lay beside him.
Momin says he came to India from Satkhira district, just across the border in Bangladesh, five years ago after paying a tout at the border.
“We settled in Domjur in Howrah… After the SIR was announced, we got scared… We heard they (BSF) are allowing us to return to Bangladesh. I, my wife and our two children are here. We arrived here this morning. We are waiting for our turn to return. Don’t know when that will happen,” he adds, referring to the Election Commission’s holding a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal ahead of next year’s polls.
A little distance away, sitting under the tarpaulin shade, Swapna Bibi is worried about her grandchild. “He is just four years old and is with us. About 10 years ago, I, along with my husband, my daughter, and my son-in-law, came to West Bengal from Bangladesh. But now we heard that they are doing NRC. So, we left our home in New Town to go back,” she says, referring to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
While NRC is being conducted in neighbouring Assam and not in West Bengal, the ruling TMC in the state has likened the SIR survey to “backdoor implementation of NRC” in the state.
Swapna Bibi says she worked as a domestic help and earned Rs 15,000 per month. “My husband did the work of a manual scavenger. He has an Indian voter card and Aadhaar. But I don’t,” she adds, citing it as the reason for returning to her native Bangladesh home.
BSF personnel at the border outpost say that over 400 people, including children, have trickled to the Hakimpur in North 24 Parganas district in the past one week – all ready to cross over to Bangladesh.
Located a little over 90 km from Kolkata, most of those waiting at the border outpost are from Kolkata, Howrah, and adjoining areas.
“I worked as a municipal garbage collector. So did my son. My family came to Bengal about 10 years ago. My son and I have (Indian) voter cards and a few other Indian documents. But I cannot take the risk. Everyone in New Town, where I live, told me that I would be caught in the SIR. So, I am returning,” says a man on the condition that his name won’t be published.
Sitting with children and toddlers, most women covered their faces as The Indian Express approached. Some of them admitted to having Indian documents.
A few metres away, at the border outpost, the road was barricaded and BSF personnel carried out stringent checks of vehicles, e-rickshaws, cars, and motorbikes.
“In the last four to five days, Bangladeshi families started arriving. But since Monday night, the numbers have increased,” says a resident of the area.
“Since there are women and children, we put up a tarpaulin shade. We are giving them food and water and all possible help,” says Jahangir Sohoji, a resident of the area and a businessman.
“Almost all of them hail from Satkhira district. They are being pushed back into Bangladesh in batches by the BSF after holding flag meetings with BGB (Border Guard Bangladesh),” says Raj Kumar Ghosh, who owns a private bus.
According to BSF officials, there has been a considerable increase in the number of illegal Bangladeshi citizens returning to their country from West Bengal.
“Since SIR started in the first week of November, the daily outward movement of people was less and in double digits. But now every day, around 150 to 200 illegal Bangladeshis are trying to leave India,” said a senior BSF officer, calling it “reverse exodus”.
According to BSF, proper biometric checks are being done at the border outposts. “In case of any slight suspicion of crime or link to terror activities, they are immediately handed over to the state police for further investigation. However, a majority of people are those without any valid Indian papers,” said a senior BSF officer.