A day after Union minister Harsh Sanghavi claimed to have detained more than 1,000 “illegal” Bangladeshi immigrants following combing operations in Ahmedabad and Surat, activists on the ground said the majority of those detained are labourers from other states and are not even Bengali.
At least 890 “Bangladeshis” were detained in Ahmedabad and 134 in Surat, in what the minister termed the biggest operation of its kind by the Gujarat police to date.
Thumping his chest, Sanghavi called the operation a “historic success.”
“A historic success has been achieved in nabbing illegal Bangladeshis. As many as 890 illegal immigrants were caught by the Ahmedabad police and 134 by the Surat police.
“This is the biggest operation of the Gujarat Police against people living illegally in the state,” Sanghavi told reporters in Surat after chairing a meeting with senior police officers via video-conferencing.
Sanghavi also warned illegal immigrants residing in Gujarat to surrender before the police voluntarily, or else they would be nabbed and deported.
However, on the ground, the reality appears different and highlights the grim situation minorities are facing. Speaking to Maktoob, Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) member Mirza Ikram Baig called the operation “illegal.”
“They are saying 1,000 people have been arrested, but we have to understand that the number could be even higher. Most of the arrested people are Indians who are not even Bengali. The only thing is that they live in the same areas as those who come from Bangladesh,” he said.
Baig, who has been moving from one detention centre to another, said that detainees are being kept in a football field under harsh conditions and are given food only once a day.
“The detained people are given food just once a day by the authorities, who treat it as a favour. Meanwhile, their families are outside in this scorching heat without food or water,” he added.
Calling it a way to harass people, Baig said that after checking identity cards, they have concluded that most of the arrested individuals are not Bangladeshi. However, authorities have claimed that fake identity cards are easily made and said they are fully investigating and verifying all documents.
Around 200 people have been released so far, while others are still awaiting their release.
Maktoob also spoke to Shehzad Khan, a Congress councillor from Chandola Taalab — one of the main areas where people were picked up — who claimed that such drives have happened before, though not at this scale.
“This is nothing unusual.
Around 400 people were picked up from the area at night, out of which 200 have already been released,” he said.
Khan further said that this is the police merely doing its job by singling out “illegal immigrants.”
He said that as most migrant communities live together in the same localities, the police picked up everyone to investigate their documents.
“This is not sudden; it keeps happening. It is taking time because the police are checking all the documents.
The police have the right to arrest or detain people for 24 hours if they are on the suspect list,” he added.
The leader of the opposition in Ahmedabad also ruled out any connection between the sudden crackdown and the recent Pahalgam attack.
The arrested individuals have been taken to the crime branch for verification, he added.
Meanwhile, Baig questioned the basis on which people were picked up. “They went around at night knocking on doors and arresting anyone they could, and even now they are not releasing people despite them showing all their documents,” he said.
Due to fear, many families in different areas have left their homes.
According to Khan, the drive is expected to continue for several more days.
