Wrongful detentions in name of B'deshi Rohingya: Cong MLA
"An order came from above stating that Bangladeshi Rohingya people are wandering around everywhere. In Jaipur city, 2,000-2,500 people were picked up under the pretext of being Bangladeshi Rohingya, and they were asked for ID and passports. The labourers did not have passports. Many people did not have IDs. People from Rajasthan, specifically from Shekhawati, were picked up and detained. I managed to get around 2,000-2,500 people released from the police station.
One woman was found whose land records dated back to 1960, even before Bangladesh was established. Not a single person was Bangladeshi. There are many people from West Bengal," said Khan. He also raised concerns over the state govt's intention of removing names from the list of the food security beneficiaries, based on caste or religion.
CPI national secretary Annie Raja said the CPI has always supported the Right to Food law and has integrated these issues into the party's agenda.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scroll.in
20 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
‘Atrocious and terrible': TMC expresses shock at detention of Bengali-speaking workers in Gurugram
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she was shocked at reports alleging that several migrant Bengali-speaking workers were being detained in Gurugram in Haryana. 'This is atrocious and terrible,' the Trinamool Congress chief said on X. 'We are not going to tolerate this.' On July 19, the police in Gurugram detained at least 74 migrant workers on the suspicion that they were from Bangladesh, The Wire reported. Of these, 11 were from West Bengal and 63 from Assam. The workers have been detained at a municipal community centre in Gurugram's Sector 10A, Newslaundry reported. Amid the crackdown, hundreds of migrant workers have reportedly fled Gurugram for fear of being detained. Since the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, Bengali-speaking migrant workers have been rounded up by the police in several states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party and asked to prove that they are Indian citizens. In some cases, individuals who were mistakenly sent to Bangladesh returned to the country after state authorities in India proved that they were Indians. Banerjee on Thursday said she also received reports from other states like Rajasthan about West Bengal residents being 'pushed' into Bangladesh although they had official documentation. 'There are tortures and tortures on hapless poor Bengali workers from West Bengal in these States,' she said. '…Stop this linguistic terror.' Have been increasingly receiving reports of detentions of and atrocities on our Bengali-speaking people from different districts of West Bengal in Gurgaon, Haryana. West Bengal police is receiving these reports from Haryana police in the name of requests for identity searches.… — Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) July 24, 2025 In a similar vein, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra asked whether the Sector 10A community centre was being used as an illegal detention camp. 'This is illegal,' she asserted, 'This is like living in Nazi Germany, where the Jews were being completely terrorised and [were] living in constant fear of being picked up and put in camps.' Moitra said that migrant workers could not be branded as Bangladeshis merely because they spoke in Bengali. Attention! Migrant workers from Bengal being picked up illegally by @gurgaonpolice, is Sector 10 A community center an illegal detention camp? Maids, cooks, menial workers living in complete terror. #NaziGermany — Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) July 24, 2025 Commenting on the allegations, Gurugram Police Public Relations Officer Sandeep Kumar was quoted as saying by The Wire that the 'suspected immigrants' were being held as per government guidelines, and claiming that they were not being detained. However, he did not specify what the guidelines were. 'They are not detained,' Kumar was quoted as saying by the news portal. 'As per the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs [MHA], certain holding centres have been created, and suspected Bangladeshis are being kept there. All basic necessities, including medical facilities, are being provided to them at the centres.'
Hans India
20 minutes ago
- Hans India
Delhi court reserves verdict on issuing notice to Robert Vadra in land deal case
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday reserved its decision on issuing a notice to businessman Robert Vadra, son-in-law of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, in connection with a money laundering case linked to a land deal in Haryana's Shikohpur. The Rouse Avenue Court will likely pronounce its verdict on July 31 regarding the issuance of a notice to Vadra, the husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), claiming that Vadra's Skylight Hospitality 'fraudulently' purchased 3.53 acres of land situated in the village of Shikohpur in Haryana's Gurugram district through 'false declaration'. During the hearing, advocate Zoheb Hossain, appearing for the ED, stated that the sale deed falsely declared a payment of Rs 7.5 crore, whereas in reality, no such payment was made. This amount was paid at a later stage to evade stamp duty, a fact that has been confirmed by key witnesses, added Hossain. Further, the federal anti-money laundering agency claimed that Vadra, 'through his personal influence', obtained a commercial license on the land purchased. As per the ED, the land was later sold to DLF at a higher price, and this aspect of the case is still under investigation. In April this year, Vadra was questioned in multiple rounds by the ED, during which his statement was also recorded. The land purchase deal in question was executed in February 2008 when Congress was at the helm in Haryana, and Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the Chief Minister. The mutation process, which usually takes months, was done the next day. Months later, Vadra received a permit to develop a housing society on the land, and the value of the plot increased. He sold it to DLF in June at Rs 58 crore. Suspecting the proceeds to be part of a money laundering scheme, the ED has been probing the trail behind the windfall gains. In October 2012, IAS officer Ashok Khemka (now retired), who was then posted as the Director General of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector-General of Registration of Haryana, cancelled the land purchase deal, citing procedural irregularities. Later in 2013, an in-house government panel gave a clean chit to both Vadra as well as DLF. When the BJP-led government came to power, an FIR was registered by the Haryana Police against former Chief Minister Hooda, Vadra, and others.
Indian Express
20 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘We feel safe in India': Amid controversy, Bangladeshi Matuas held in Pune apply for citizenship under CAA
Amid allegations of migrants from West Bengal (WB) being harassed in BJP ruled states, a Matua family from Bangladesh has applied for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), after they were taken in by Pimpri Chinchwad police earlier this month for inquiry in Pune district. 'We are afraid of going to Bangladesh due to the violence against Hindus. Situation is not good there. We are safe in India. Even Shaikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, had to flee and take shelter in India,' said Kishor Biswas, a member of the family who has applied for citizenship. In the first week of July, 40-year-old Kishor, his wife Bonita, brother-in-law Arush alias Bonomali Adhikary and Arush's wife Priyanka were held for inquiry in Wakad by the Pimpri Chinchwad police on the suspicion they were Bangladeshi nationals. The family belongs to the Matua community, a Hindu religious sect, primarily composed of Namasudras, a Scheduled Caste (SC) in Bangladesh. Police said they found nothing incriminating against Kishor, who claims to be a West Bengal resident, but a restriction order was issued against his wife and others, as documents of Bangladeshi identity were allegedly recovered from their possession. Referring to the action against the Matua family, the TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam, called the BJP led Maharashtra government 'anti–Bengali'. Islam is also the chairman of the West Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Board. On July 15, Islam posted on his X account, 'Now, members of our beloved Matua community have been facing harassment by the anti-Bengali BJP government in Maharashtra….Recently, our office at the West Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Board received information about police harassment of at least six members of the Matua community from North 24 Parganas, currently residing in Pune, Maharashtra…' 'We have already reached out to the affected family, who confirmed that the police in BJP-ruled Maharashtra have detained Arush Adhikary and at least five others including minors, on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals,' he posted. Refuting the allegations, a senior police officer said they found Bangladeshi national identity cards of Arush and his wife Priyanka, along with a Bangladeshi birth certificate of his sister Bonita, who is married to Kishor Biswas. Police also found their Indian documents like Aadhaar cards, suspected to have been procured through 'agents'. A police officer said action was initiated against the Bangladeshi citizens as per the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) directives issued in May this year. FRO of Pimpri Chinchwad police issued a restriction order for Arush, Priyanka and Bonita. But the police did not deport the Matua family, like other illegal Bangladeshi migrants, because Kishor submitted an application under the CAA, as per which Hindus or persecuted minorities from Bangladesh, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, can seek Indian citizenship. Kishor said the Matua community in West Bengal contacted lawyers in Pune, who helped him file the CAA form online. He then submitted a letter, attached with his CAA form, to DCP Shivaji Pawar on July 15, requesting the police to halt the deportation of his wife and two children Bebika (9) and Kiyan (4), both born in Pune. Police said Kishor did not have any Bangladeshi ID. But in his CAA form, he mentioned Bangladesh as his birth place. Police are now waiting for the government's instructions over his CAA application. Lawyers Sanket Rao and Khetaram Solankii, who assisted Kishor, said the Central Government should consider the CAA application of the Matuas and ensure they are not deported to Bangladesh. 'We also want to help Aarush's family in filing CAA form,' said Rao. Police said Aarush was operating a 'clinic', providing treatment for ailments like piles through 'ayurvedic' medicines. While he was initially restricted at Wakad police station, his wife and seven-month-old baby, sister and her children were allowed to stay at Kishor's house in Rahatani. When the Indian Express visited the house, the Matuas said they were cooperating with the police and there was no harassment by cops. Kishor said, 'I do not remember exactly, but I migrated to West Bengal from Bangladesh when I was around six years old, after my parents passed away. I grew up in West Bengal with my relatives. I have an Indian Adhaar card and other documents.' Kishor said he got married to Bonita of Khulna in Bangladesh and brought her to India using valid passports. 'We later shifted to Pune. My children go to school. My wife does tailoring work. I helped Arush in medicinal work,' he said. Arush's wife Priyanka claimed she migrated to India after marriage, but her husband has been in India for a long time and that his father even owns a property in West Bengal. She said Arush was doing a course at Bharati Vidyapeeth in Pune. Arush's brother is a resident of Karnataka, police said. Arush and Kishor have identity cards issued to them by the 'All India Matua Mahasangha', bearing signatures of Santanu Thakur, a BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Shipping. Thakur is a prominent Matua leader from West Bengal. He was not available for comment. A huge number of Matuas migrated to India during partition, later during the creation of Bangladesh. Many Matuas are known to have families and properties in Bangladesh, as well as in West Bengal and so they are often found migrating to both places. Getting Indian citizenship is one of the long-standing demands of the Matua community. Being influential in multiple districts in West Bengal, be it the BJP or the TMC, the key political parties in the state have been wooing the Matua community. The Matua community is believed to have helped the BJP win most of the SC constituencies in Bengal in 2019, after the party had promised to implement CAA. The Matuas are a composite caste whose social evolution is linked to the movement started by Sri Harichand Thakur. The movement originated in erstwhile Bangladesh and revolves around Harichand Thakur and his teaching. At present both West Bengal and Bangladesh have Matua populations. Chandan Haygunde is an assistant editor with The Indian Express with 15 + years of experience in covering issues related to Crime, Courts, National Security and Human Rights. He has been associated with The Indian Express since 2007. Chandan has done investigative reporting on incidents of terrorism, left wing extremism, espionage cases, wildlife crimes, narcotics racket, cyber crimes and sensational murder cases in Pune and other parts of Maharashtra. While working on the 'Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Fellowship on Tigers, Tiger Habitats and Conservation' in 2012, he reported extensively on the illegal activities in the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. He has done in-depth reporting on the cases related to the Koregaon Bhima violence in Pune and hearings of the 'Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry'. ... Read More
