Four Indian Muslims jailed for month after being branded Bangladeshis
Four Muslim migrant workers from West Bengal spent 33 days in detention despite possessing Indian identity documents before court intervention secured release
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Four Indian Muslim migrant workers spent more than a month in detention in India’s Chhattisgarh state after police suspected them of being undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants, despite their families maintaining that they were Indian citizens with valid identity documents.
The men, identified as Safiqul Islam, Sabir Sheikh, Nasiruddin Sheikh and Laltu Sheikh, were released Wednesday night after spending 33 days in custody following intervention by the Calcutta High Court, which questioned the legal basis for their continued detention.
The four are residents of Murshidabad district in West Bengal, an eastern Indian state bordering Bangladesh. They were among 23 migrant workers detained by Chhattisgarh Police on September 4 while working in Bilaspur, where they had traveled to earn a living.
According to their families, the workers were engaged in street vending and other informal occupations in the Chunchiyapara-Ganesh Nagar area when authorities questioned their nationality.
Relatives said the men produced Indian voter identification cards, Aadhaar identity cards and Permanent Account Number cards, which are issued by Indian government authorities for identification and taxation purposes.
Despite possessing these documents, the workers were taken into custody on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals and subsequently transferred to a detention facility in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh.
Nineteen of the detained workers were released on Sept. 18 after authorities reportedly verified their identities. However, the remaining four continued to be held, leaving their families struggling to secure their release.
Their detention comes amid growing concerns over the treatment of Bengali-speaking Muslims in India, particularly migrant laborers from West Bengal who have faced allegations of being undocumented Bangladeshis in states governed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Muslim organizations and civil rights advocates have repeatedly raised concerns that language, religious identity and regional background are being used to question the citizenship of Indian Muslims, exposing them to detention, harassment and possible deportation.
The families of the four workers eventually approached the Calcutta High Court, arguing that the men were long-standing residents of Murshidabad and that disputes concerning the deletion of their names from electoral rolls were already pending before the relevant authorities.
During an Oct. 5 hearing, Justice Krishna Rao questioned how officials could independently determine the men’s citizenship while appeals against their removal from voter lists remained unresolved.
The court also questioned the role of the Foreigners Registration Officer and whether authorities were bypassing established legal procedures for determining citizenship.
Trinamool Congress lawmaker Samirul Islam said Chhattisgarh authorities had requested verification of the workers’ residence from Murshidabad district officials but had not received the necessary report.
He criticized the delay, saying government officials were responsible for protecting citizens’ rights and providing accurate information when another state sought verification.
The four men were subsequently released following the court’s intervention, ending their monthlong detention.
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