A police operation targeting ‘illegal Bangladeshi’ nationals has raised concerns in South Delhi’s Bengali Basti, leaving local residents, especially Muslims in fear and apprehension
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — A growing wave of anxiety has spread through South Delhi’s Bengali Basti in Vasant Kunj following an ongoing search operation by the Delhi Police aimed at identifying illegal Bangladeshi nationals. As part of the operation, the police have already deported eight individuals after verifying their foreign status. However, several local residents, particularly those from Bengali-speaking communities, have voiced concerns over the methods employed by authorities, feeling unfairly targeted despite their legitimate Indian citizenship.
According to Arvind Pratap Singh, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Vasant Kunj Police Station, the operation has seen the identification and deportation of eight Bangladeshi nationals so far. Singh revealed that over 400 families were checked during a door-to-door verification drive, and the process of identification continues for others. He clarified that documents such as Aadhaar cards, election identity cards, and ration cards are being scrutinised in the ongoing process.
“The campaign is still ongoing on, and suspicious individuals are being identified,” said SHO Singh. “A special team has been formed for verification, and they have even been sent to West Bengal to verify the identities of the suspects.” He assured that the police were following the correct procedure, which involves identifying and arresting foreign nationals without valid documentation.
However, Singh’s statements have not assuaged the concerns of the local community. “They are picked up by calling them Bangladeshi, but even after verification, they are treated as suspects,” said Abul Hussain, a local resident from Assam who has been living in Delhi since 2008. Hussain, who works as a scrap dealer, recounted his experience when police arrived at his doorstep for questioning. “When someone is picked up by calling him Bangladeshi, people in the nearby houses are afraid to hire that person, even after the police verify their identity,” he said. Hussain added that his family often suffers from the psychological toll of these arbitrary interrogations, despite the fact that his identity card had been checked and verified.
Local residents have expressed frustration over being wrongly labelled as Bangladeshis due to their Bengali-speaking background. “How can a person who speaks Bengali be a Bangladeshi?” questioned Nabi Hussain, another long-time resident of the Bengali colony. He, too, is from Cooch Behar in West Bengal and works as a scrap dealer. “People should understand that Bengali is also spoken in India,” he remarked. Nabi added that the police had even sent verification teams to his village in Bengal to cross-check his documents.
Hussain, who has been living in Delhi since 2002, described the situation as a form of harassment. “Instead of solving our problems, we are being marginalised by calling us Bangladeshis,” he said. He went on to list the many hardships faced by the Bengali Basti residents, including lack of clean drinking water, poor roads, and the overwhelming issue of flooding during the monsoon. Despite these pressing issues, Hussain and others in the colony find themselves caught up in the ongoing search operation.
Many of the residents of Bengali Basti, a community of over 10,000 Bengali-speaking individuals, have lived in Delhi for decades. Some claim to have been residing in the city for over 20 years, originally from places like Cooch Behar, Assam, and other parts of Bengal. Most of them work in low-paying, unskilled jobs such as cleaning, garbage collection, or hawking to sustain their families.
Rafiq Khandukar, a 40-year-old resident, shared his experience of being detained by the police on December 28. He was picked up by a special police team along with four other individuals. “They asked if I am a Bangladeshi. I denied and showed my Aadhaar and other identity cards. After verifying my documents with my village in Cooch Behar, they let me go,” he said. Khandukar, who has lived in the Bengali colony for 22 years, expressed concern over the sudden and unwarranted treatment by the police. “I’ve lived here for over two decades, but this kind of interrogation has never happened before,” he stated.
Other residents in the area also recounted similar experiences of being taken to the Vasant Kunj Police Station for questioning and kept there for hours until their documents were verified. While many acknowledged that they cooperated with the police, they were distressed by the manner in which they were being questioned and detained.
The ongoing campaign has sparked speculation among local residents that the timing of the operation might be politically motivated. With elections around the corner, some believe that the targeting of Bengali-speaking people might be an attempt to stir up sentiments around illegal immigration. “Some people think that we are being harassed because of the elections. But we are here to work, to earn our livelihood, and provide for our families. If there were better opportunities in our own villages, we would not have come here,” said Abdurrauf, another resident.
The issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigration has long been a contentious one in India, and it has gained renewed attention in the context of Delhi’s growing migrant population. Many of the Bengali-speaking residents of Delhi’s slums feel that their struggle to survive in one of the country’s most expensive cities is compounded by the stigma of being falsely accused of being illegal immigrants.
While the majority of those affected by the operation are Bengali-speaking Muslims, the Hindu community in the same locality has largely remained unaffected by the operation. Savitri, a 40-year-old Hindu woman from Uttar Pradesh, lives near the Kali temple in Bengali Basti and works as a cleaner in the surrounding area. She told reporters, “We haven’t faced any major issues, though sometimes the police come to check the identity cards of the people here.”
The fact that Bengali-speaking Hindus in the area have not been subjected to the same level of scrutiny raises questions about the targeting of Bengali-speaking Muslims in the ongoing operation.
As the police continue their operation to identify illegal immigrants, the division between law enforcement and the local Bengali-speaking community seems to deepen. While many of these individuals have lived in Delhi for decades, contributing to the city’s economy in menial jobs, they now find themselves under the scrutiny of a system that labels them as outsiders.
Nabi Hussain expressed a sense of resignation: “We are not afraid of the identity card check, but it’s painful when the police call us Bangladeshis. We are Indians, whether we live in Delhi or Bengal.” The ongoing search operation has shed light on the anxieties of these marginalised communities, whose daily struggles are compounded by the uncertainty and fear of being unjustly targeted.
As the investigation into illegal immigration continues, the question remains: how can a community that has lived in India for generations be made to feel like outsiders in their own land? The answer to this question may well determine the future of the city’s Bengali-speaking residents.
