Hundreds of Bengali Muslim Workers Detained Across India on Suspicion of Being Bangladeshi, Supreme Court Demands Answers

Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Thursday, August 14, sent notices to the Union government and nine state administrations after a petition alleged that Bengali Muslim migrant workers from West Bengal were being arbitrarily detained across India under suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi directed the Centre, along with the governments of Odisha, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, and West Bengal, to file their responses. “We will have an opinion on what can be done to prevent this from happening on a pan-India basis,” the bench observed.

The case, brought forward by the West Bengal Migrant Workers Welfare Board, claims that after a Ministry of Home Affairs circular issued in May, several states began “randomly picking up” Bengali Muslim workers, accusing them of being illegal immigrants. Representing the petitioners, Advocate Prashant Bhushan said that in nearly every case where verification was conducted, the workers were confirmed as Indian citizens.

“In some cases, they even sent them out of the country… after verification, they had to bring them back to India,” Bhushan told the court. Referring to a recent incident, he added, “Delhi Police claimed documents were in ‘Bangladeshi language’. There is no Bangladeshi language, it’s Bangla.”

Bhushan further contended that detaining people purely on suspicion was unlawful. “Let them verify, no problem. Problem is that they are detaining. Some are being tortured. It’s causing panic. The Foreigners Act does not authorise the government to detain people over suspicion that they are foreigners,” he argued.

Justice Kant suggested that a nodal agency could be established to coordinate between the worker’s state of origin and the state of employment. Justice Bagchi questioned whether such a mechanism currently existed under any law.