Kolkata, Jul 26 (PTI) Amidst the raging debate over the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in several BJP-ruled states, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam on Saturday accused the states of withholding data on migrant workers employed in various skilled jobs there.
Islam, who has regularly raised the issue on social media alongside other Trinamool Congress leaders and party chief Mamata Banerjee, said BJP-ruled states such as Maharashtra, Odisha, Haryana, Delhi, and Rajasthan have failed to provide transparent information about the number of Bengali-speaking migrant workers engaged in various skilled sectors.
In a post on X, Islam said, “I just want to warn the BJP: you cannot conceal your anti-Bengali attitude by hiding the data. Under the leadership of @MamataOfficial, we will continue to fight for the rights of these people.” He claimed that responses he received from the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, in reply to a set of questions he had submitted, reveal a shocking lack of reliable or updated database on migrant workers.
“It becomes clear that we live in a country where the government does not maintain a timely or reliable database of migrant workers. They don’t know how many migrant workers have died, nor do they have any details about them,” the senior TMC leader, who is also the chairman of Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board, West Bengal, claimed.
He added that despite requesting data for the past five years, there was no substantive information available on migrant workers.
“We all know about the plight of migrant workers who were forced to walk long distances during the COVID-19-induced lockdown. There was no data available, or perhaps the BJP government is deliberately trying to hide its inefficiencies in protecting the rights of these migrants,” he added.
Reiterating his party’s oft-repeated claims in recent times, he added, “Hundreds of Bengali-speaking migrant labourers working in different states have been unlawfully detained and harassed by BJP-ruled state governments such as Odisha, Maharashtra, and Delhi.” “Many of them have even been deported to Bangladesh. These BJP-ruled states have not been providing any data to the West Bengal government,” he claimed.
Several BJP leaders, including party’s state president and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya, have maintained the state governments concerned are not persecuting Bengali-speaking migrants as alleged by TMC and instead only singling out Bangladeshis who have illegally crossed over to India and got documents like fake Aadhaar cards to enroll as citizens for vote bank politics.
“Not a single Indian citizen – whether he is Bengali-speaking or not — will be harassed as they are in possession of valid documents. TMC is trying to shield Bangladeshi infiltrators who entered India and settled here with the party’s support,” Bhattacharya said earlier. PTI SUS MNB
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