KOLKATA: Following the intervention of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, migrant workers from Itahar in North Dinajpur district of West Bengal, who were allegedly detained in Rajasthan on suspicion of being Bangladeshis, have been released.
Ainul Haq, one of the detained migrant workers, confirmed over phone from Rajasthan on Wednesday morning that 200 migrant workers from West Bengal and another 200 Bengali-speaking workers from Assam were released from captivity and had returned to work.
Haq said, “We were released on Tuesday afternoon after the West Bengal government talked to the Rajasthan government. We have joined our respective jobs on Wednesday morning. For this, we all sincerely thank Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.”
On Tuesday, Itahar MLA Mosaraf Hossain informed the Chief Minister that around 300 migrant workers from his constituency, who had travelled to Rajasthan for work, were detained there on suspicion of being Bangladeshis, despite possessing valid proof of Indian citizenship.
Expressing her strong discontent and protest over the incident, a furious Banerjee said, “Why are Bengali-speaking people being treated so discriminately? Are the Bengali-speaking people not the citizens of this country? This is not the first time. Similar incidents happened earlier also. I do not know whether the Prime Minister is aware or not. I will speak to the Prime Minister.”
She also instructed West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant to immediately contact Rajasthan Chief Secretary Sudhansh Pant to secure the release of the workers.
Chief Opposition Whip in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and BJP MLA Sankar Ghosh blamed the Trinamool Congress for the incident. He said, “The way the Trinamool government has given shelter to infiltrators in the state and the way the ruling party's public representatives have set up businesses to create fake documents of Indian citizenship, Bengalis who are going outside the state face uncertainties and danger. Trinamool is putting Bengalis in danger for the sake of their vote bank.”