Bengali Muslim laborer lynched in India
Killing in eastern India follows demands for identity documents and forced sloganeering, amid wider attacks on Bengali-speaking workers
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV)— A 19-year-old Bengali-speaking Muslim laborer from eastern India was beaten to death by a group of men in the state of Odisha, in what activists describe as a lynching driven by suspicion and ethnic profiling of migrant workers.
According to the local media, the victim, Juyel Rana, was attacked on Wednesday night in Sambalpur district after he and two co-workers were stopped while returning from work.
The assailants allegedly demanded identity documents and accused the group of being “illegal Bangladeshi migrants,” a label increasingly used to target Bengali-speaking Muslims across several Indian states.
Rights activists said the attackers forced the workers to chant “Jai Shri Ram” — a Hindu religious slogan that has in recent years been weaponized by extremist groups as a test of ideological loyalty — before assaulting them with bamboo sticks. Rana sustained fatal injuries and was declared dead at a hospital in Sambalpur, while two other workers remain hospitalized.
Police confirmed the arrest of six people in connection with the killing but denied that the attack was linked to suspicions about the victim’s nationality, claiming instead that the accused and the victim were acquainted. Senior police officials said the workers had lived in the area for several years.
Rana was originally from Murshidabad district in West Bengal and had travelled to Odisha in December for seasonal construction work, earning a daily wage equivalent to $7. News of his death sparked grief in his home village, where family members said he had migrated purely for work and had no prior disputes.
Migrant worker advocates say the killing fits a broader pattern in which Bengali-speaking Muslims are singled out as “Bangladeshi” or security threats based on language, religion, and appearance, despite being Indian citizens.
Several such attacks have been reported in recent years, often following public rhetoric about identifying and removing so-called “illegal migrants.”
Political reactions followed the killing, with opposition leaders accusing Hindu nationalist BJP government of fostering a climate in which vigilante violence thrives. They argue that repeated crackdowns and inflammatory narratives around migration have legitimized suspicion and mob violence against migrant laborers.
Labor rights groups warn that intensified enforcement drives against alleged “illegal migrants” in eastern and central India have blurred the line between law enforcement and collective punishment.
They say migrant workers — among the poorest and most vulnerable — are increasingly exposed to violence, detention, and extortion without effective protection.
For advocates, the killing of Juyel Rana underscores a growing fear among migrant communities: that speaking Bengali or being visibly Muslim can now be enough to invite deadly suspicion far from home.
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