CPI(M) Writes to Amit Shah Over Harassment of Bengali Migrants, Demands Action Against ‘Lawless' Delhi Police
New Delhi: Senior leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Brinda Karat and Anurag Saxena, have written to Union home minister Amit Shah seeking intervention over the harassment and human rights violations against Bengali-speaking citizens in Delhi in the ongoing process of “identification of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants”.
In a letter addressed to Shah, the CPI(M) leaders wrote, “We have received several complaints of harassment of genuine citizens of India on grounds that they speak Bengali. On July 10, 2025, we along with a team of leaders of the CPI(M) from Delhi visited Bawana JJ colony in Delhi and met several of the complainants. We were shocked to find blatant violation of minimum human rights, harassment and in some cases, corruption amounting to extortion.”
Noting five incidents of Bengali-speaking migrants in Delhi, the leaders pointed to the “lawless behaviour of the police to harass law abiding citizens of India”.
They cited instances where the individuals were handcuffed, beaten and intimidated.
In one case, a family from Jharkhand who had migrated to Delhi several decades ago, were repeatedly visited by police teams and harassed. They were told that all their photographs have been uploaded on police site.
In another case, they forced an individual to confess that he is a Bangladeshi, then hit him with lathis, threw him on the ground and kicked him on his ears with their boots.
Highlighting a case of three elderly women, aged between 60 and 70 years, who were brought to India from Bangladesh by their parents when they were children, the leaders stated, “They live in terror every day that they will be forcibly deported. This treatment to such poor, vulnerable single women is inhumane and unjust.”
They also highlighted an incident on June 26, where eight migrant workers from West Bengal were forcibly sent to Bangladesh despite having proof. “We would like to remind you that 26 per cent of the population of West Bengal are Bengali speaking Muslims. Also, there are international norms for deportation of illegal immigrants. The present methods of identification in Delhi violate all such norms,” they stated, and asked, “Is it now a crime in India to speak Bengali? Further, are all Bengali speaking Muslim citizens of India to be treated as criminals and illegal immigrants?”
Calling it a violation of minimum human rights, the CPI(M) leaders have demanded the home minister to take action against law enforcement agencies and “adequately compensate the victims for their losses”.
The Wire has previously reported how Bengali migrants have been struggling amid the anti-immigrant drive in Delhi.
The Wire has also reported how, in the last six months, around 700 undocumented migrants in Delhi have been sent back to Bangladesh as part of the Indian government’s “push back” strategy, which accelerated after the Pahalgam terror attack last month.
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