Overview

• Around 300–400 Bengali-speaking workers from Itahar in North Dinajpur were detained in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, despite holding valid Indian identity documents.
• West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee secured their release on June 25 by instructing her chief secretary to liaise with Rajasthan authorities.
• Despite being freed, many migrants now converse in Hindi at worksites to evade wrongful classification as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
• Banerjee has accused BJP-ruled states of linguistic discrimination, highlighting similar detentions in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
• BJP leaders deny targeting Bengalis and maintain that anti-immigration actions over fake documents are being carried out in both BJP and non-BJP states.