Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has strongly criticized the Indian government over its handling of Bengali-speaking Muslims while allowing former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina to stay in the country. He said if the government is serious about deporting illegal Bangladeshi nationals, it should start with Hasina, who has been in India since her ouster in August last year.
Speaking to the media, Owaisi alleged that poor Bengali-speaking Indians from Malda and Murshidabad were being pushed out of Pune and Kolkata and abandoned in no man’s land. He added that many were wrongly labeled as Bangladeshis despite being Indian citizens.
The Hyderabad MP said police in different parts of the country were detaining Bengali-speaking Muslims without proof and in some cases forcing them across the border at gunpoint. He called such detentions illegal and discriminatory.
“These are the poorest of the poor,” Owaisi said, describing them as domestic workers and ragpickers. He stressed that they are unable to resist police excesses due to their vulnerable position. He had earlier condemned similar orders in Gurugram targeting Bengali speakers.
