OIn the last few months, migrant workers from West Bengal have been detained in large numbers throughout India and asked for evidence of their citizenship. From Odisha and Chhattisgarh in the east, to Maharashtra and Gujarat in the west and to Delhi, Haryan and Rajasthan in the north, thousands of migrant security agencies have been detained, sometimes in hundreds and for several days. Several of them were pushed into Bangladesh. This detention caused not only physical and emotional trauma to migrating workers, but also disrupted their working cycles and many forced them to return to West Bengal.
The targeting of migrating workers from the state has created an outflow in the politics of West Bengal. For the ruling Congress of Trinamool, the situation of workers came as an opportunity to revive the debate on the Bengal language and identity. The Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee said that migrant workers were focused on BJP states to speak in Bengal and that it was an insult to Bengal identity. Trinamool’s leadership began to build a campaign for elections to the assembly 2026 by watching a script similar to what followed successfully during the election to the assembly of 2021.
BJP claims that exercises in BJP -dominated countries are not focused on targeting migrant workers from West Bengal, but on the identification and removal of “illegal” immigrants from Bangladesh. The West Bengal Unit BJP, which promises to restore the “Hinda Fatherland” for Bengall, believes that the targeting of migrating workers from the state, most of which is Muslim, will not hurt the political prospects of the party. BJP leader ADHIKARI also said that “almost one crorem Rohingya immigrants, Bangladeshi Muslim voters, deceased voters, duplicate posts and false voters” have been in large numbers, which is why BJP requires special intensive revision exercises.
Some political observers feel that the detaining and harassment of Bengal migrants has provided trinamool leadership a clear advantage that can easily paint BJP as a side against the Bengal language and identity. After all, BJP has no answer to why a large number of migrating staff from the state are detained and harassed. While most of the migrant workers facing harassment are Muslims, Matuas – a community that has largely supported BJP and citizenship has been promised under the Citizenship Change of 2019 – are also detained, arrested and forced to provide citizenship documents.
Migration is a complex phenomenon including economics, history and geography. The report on internal migration in India, published by Niti Aayog in December 2024, estimated the migration of the interstate state based on the sold tickets sold. He used the census in 2011 as a base. The report called “400 million dreams” pointed out that not only the migration of external Bengal, but also internal migration.
If Bengal -speaking migrants are still annoyed throughout India and are forced to return to the state, not only exerts pressure on the economy of West Bengal, but also leads to social tension. The disruption of the natural economic cycle of millions of migrating workers by detention for suspicion of Bangladesh may have serious consequences on the economic and social landscape of West Bengal.
Moreover, because the state has shared history and geography as well as close cultural and linguistic ties with Bangladeshi, it is difficult to identify the Bangladesh national among Bengal migrants. Poor migrating workers are simply detained because they speak a specific language. It is not only a violation of the proper process, but also the exercise of futility. Instead, efforts should be made to strengthen the supervision of the border and fence hundreds of kilometers of the Indian border with Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, migrant workers returning to West Bengal have little opportunity, but to look for opportunities in other countries. Without jobs in West Bengal and without compensation from the government, workers will naturally take another train to a relatively safer destination. This time, however, they can travel with multiple identity documents so that they are not harassed by suspicion from Bangladesh.
Published – August 13, 2025 01:08
