Seventy-four Muslim migrant workers “from West Bengal and Assam” have been detained for the past four days at a municipal community centre in Gurugram’s Sector 10A, which is being used as a makeshift detention facility, Newslaundry has learnt.

A spokesperson from the office of the Gurugram Police Commissioner confirmed to Newslaundry that migrant workers without “complete documents to prove their citizenship” are being picked up. “Once their verification is complete, they will be released,” the spokesperson said. Asked whether formal orders had been issued and if more such centres had been converted into detention facilities, he said, “Yes, but for now we cannot share all information.”

This comes amid a crackdown in various states on alleged Bangladeshi immigrants living in India without legal documents and concerns about violations of human rights and due procedure. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of hounding Bangla speakers in BJP-governed states and announcing a “bhasha andolon (language movement)” from next week.

Hundreds have been detained in the national capital region, where some have accused the police of harassment. Reports have indicated that several makeshift detention centres have come up in the capital over the past few months. 

‘Verification underway’

At least 30 police personnel from across Gurugram have been deployed at the Sector 10A centre. One officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, “They are all Muslim men from West Bengal and Assam, who live in slums in Gurugram. We’re verifying whether they are Bangladeshis or Indian citizens.”

Among the detainees at Sector 10A are Hafijul, whose brother Amanur Shaikh claimed that he was picked up from Dundahera village on July 19 while collecting scrap. Amanur showed his Aadhaar, voter ID and PAN card to say the family is from West Bengal’s Nadia district. “They took him to the Sector 10A police station and asked him to show documents. He showed his Aadhaar, voter ID and PAN card. In fact, he also showed his passport and said that he has visited Saudi Arabia and Malaysia in search of work. But the police said that these are fake documents and detained him,” he alleged.

“Back in our village, my family is also worried and my father visited the local police station to submit documents to prove that we are not Bangladeshis. It has been four days and I am unable to understand the situation.”

Newslaundry managed to speak to another detainee, Minhaj Ali, on the centre’s premises. Ali claimed he was from Assam’s Goalpara district. “When I learnt that police had been randomly picking up Muslim men on suspicion that they are Bangladeshis, I along with 15 other migrant workers went to the police station to get our documents like Aadhaar and PAN cleared. We also had proof that we are part of NRC back in our hometown. But instead of helping us, the police brought us here and detained us.”

On July 21, the government of Assam had also issued a certificate asserting that Ali is an Indian by birth and that there was no criminal case against him at his local police station. Showing the certificate to us, Ali said, “I have shown this document to the police officers as well. But they are not listening to me.”

Mukul Hasan Sheikh, a ragpicker who claims to be from West Bengal and a member of All India Shramik Swaraj Kendra, alleged the detentions were clearly targeted. “I have visited at least four other such centres in Sector 31, 39, 60 and 62. For the last three days, I have received hundreds of panic calls from families of migrant workers who have been detained. But there has been no clarity over it and no official order has been issued yet. Even if the government wants to verify our identity, they can ask us to produce documents and we will show it to them. But this is clear targeting.”

He warned that if the detentions continued, sanitation workers would go on strike. “If that happens, Gurugram will be buried under garbage.”

Supantha Sinha, advocate and member of the All India Lawyers Association for Justice, said the organisation is preparing to move the Supreme Court. “We have managed to speak to the police, and we have been told that the police will let them go only after they receive confirmation from their jurisdiction back in their hometowns. So far, neither we nor any of the detainees have not been shown any official order for their detention. It is a complete travesty of justice. Even if you are detaining someone on the pretext of being a Bangladesh national, it has to have proper procedural rigour. Moreover, we have learnt that the detention centres lack proper sanitation, basic amenities and detainees are provided food only once a day.”

Meanwhile, Asif Faruk, West Bengal general secretary of Bengali Migrant Workers Organization, has written to the joint labour commissioner of Malda urging immediate release of six migrant workers from West Bengal’s Malda who have been allegedly detained in Sector 68 in Gurugram. The letter said the families alleged police had assaulted the workers and forced them to clean the police station, including their uniforms, and that they were not being given sufficient food or drinking water.

Asked about the allegations, the office of the Gurugram police commissioner said they could not share more information.

Small teams can do great things. All it takes is a subscription. Subscribe now and power Newslaundry’s work.