Kolkata, July 3 -- Amid reports of harassment and unlawful detention of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in Odisha, Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant on Thursday wrote to his Odisha counterpart, Manoj Ahuja, urging humanitarian consideration and necessary action.
Pant expressed deep concern, noting that many from West Bengal-daily wage earners, rickshaw pullers, domestic workers, and long-settled families-have migrated to various parts of Odisha for livelihood.
"It is deeply distressing to learn that many of them are being targeted solely because they speak Bengali, their mother tongue, and are being unjustly labelled as Bangladeshi infiltrators. This sweeping generalisation is not only unfair and discriminatory, but also deeply hurtful to citizens," he wrote.
Pant added that Bengal has received "disturbing reports of such individuals being detained without due legal process in regions around Paradip and across coastal districts such as Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Malkangiri, Balasore and Cuttack.
Even when they have provided valid identity documents like Aadhaar cards, ration cards, voter IDs, electricity bills and PDS documents, their claims have often been dismissed.
In several cases, they were asked to produce ancestral land records dating back generations - a demand described in the letter as "unreasonable and unjustifiable" for migrant workers.
He further noted that even after Bengal authorities verified and confirmed the identity and citizenship of many of the detained individuals, no significant action or relief
was provided.
Pant urged the Odisha government to intervene sensitively and ensure no Indian citizen faces harassment or arbitrary detention based on language or region. He reaffirmed Bengal's full cooperation in verification efforts and its commitment to protecting citizens' rights and dignity.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.