Malda, West Bengal — In a disturbing case of alleged human rights violation, a 19-year-old Muslim youth from West Bengal’s Malda district was forcibly deported to Bangladesh by Rajasthan Police, despite possessing valid documents proving his Indian citizenship.
The youth, identified as Sk Amir, had been working in Rajasthan when police declared him a “foreign national” and expelled him across the border on July 22. The matter was brought to light by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), with MP and West Bengal State Chairperson Samirul Islam stating, “He is neither a Rohingya nor a Bangladeshi. He is a Bengali-speaking Indian who was forcibly deported.”
A video, purportedly showing Amir in Bangladesh, went viral on social media, after which his father, Jiyem Sheikh, received a call confirming that his son was in a Bangladeshi village. The family alleges that police acted without any legal verification and ignored all evidence of Amir’s nationality.
According to a petition filed in the Calcutta High Court by Amir’s father, the teenager was kept in a Rajasthan detention centre for nearly two months before being deported. The plea seeks the court’s urgent intervention to bring Amir back to India.
Rights groups and activists have condemned the deportation, calling it part of a disturbing pattern where Bengali-speaking Muslims — particularly in northern and eastern India — are wrongly targeted, detained, and expelled without due process. They have termed it a “serious violation of human rights and the constitutional right to nationality.”
This case adds to growing concerns over the misuse of immigration laws to harass and dispossess Indian Muslims under the guise of “identifying foreigners.”
