Targeted as Bangladeshis: West Bengal migrants allege police harassment in Bengaluru

Murshida's husband left Bengaluru four months ago, unable to endure what the family says were repeated detentions and beatings by police who suspected him of being an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant. He returned to his native West Bengal, taking their seven-year-old daughter with him. “Why should we run like this when we are Indians? What have we done to receive this treatment?” Murshida asked.

The family has lived in Bengaluru since 2008. Murshida worked as a domestic help and later as a cook. Last year, she stopped working after becoming pregnant. Her husband, who had been the sole earner, is now gone. She shows a copy of an enumeration form he filled during the recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka, which she says indicates his citizenship. “He has been voting here for years. Many people scared us that he would not get the form here because he was not a citizen. When he got it, he immediately called home, asked for his parents' 2002 details, filled it up and submitted it,” she said.

But the form has become another source of anxiety. Discrepancies in names and details across documents make him fear fresh harassment. Murshida keeps a file of photocopies ready. “We keep copies ready whenever they detain us. But why this treatment?” she asked.

The ordeal worsened around Eid this year, when the family returned to Bengaluru after celebrating in West Bengal. Someone told police that a large number of “Bangladeshis” were arriving by train and shared a clip of migrants at Majestic railway station. The police detained the family and released them days later, she said.

Mohammed Sheikh, a scrap collector in Bhoopasandra, said he and a friend, Ameen, used to assist police in identifying suspected Bangladeshis. Now they say they themselves have been labelled as Bangladeshis. “We can identify from the accent and words who is originally from Bengal and who is not. We knew where these people lived and would be their informants. And now we are being made 'Bangladeshi' by the Bangladeshis themselves,” Sheikh claimed.

Sheikh said police often pick them up, beat them, and leave them in unfamiliar parts of the city. “We find it difficult to return to where we live because we neither know the language nor know our way around. We mostly remain in groups at our places of work,” he said, recalling being abandoned in Shantinagar.

Ameen, 43, was born and raised in Bengaluru; his family has lived in Chikkaballapur for generations. Months ago, he filed a petition with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office and the city police, providing details of where Bangladeshi migrants live. Instead of acting on the information, he said, police began questioning him about how he knew them and whether he had links with them.

Bengaluru City Police have denied allegations of harassment. They say their drives against illegal immigrants are based on credible intelligence and are conducted according to law. However, the experiences of Murshida, Sheikh, and Ameen point to a pattern of suspicion falling on West Bengal migrants, many of whom share linguistic and cultural similarities with Bangladeshis.

The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, aimed at ensuring accurate voter lists, has added another layer of complexity. While it provides a means for legitimate citizens to document their status, mismatched records can deepen vulnerabilities. For families like Murshida's, the fear remains that even valid documents may not shield them from being caught in a broader dragnet.