Clarify if there is bias in suspecting Bengali speakers to be foreigners: SC tells Centre

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Union government to clarify whether authorities are using a “particular language” as a “presumption of the speaker being a foreigner,” The Indian Express reported.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was hearing a petition alleging that Muslim migrant labourers from West Bengal were being detained on unverified claims of being foreigners who entered India “illegally” from Bangladesh.

The bench asked if citizenship could be decided on the basis of the language a person speaks, Bar and Bench reported. “We would like you to clarify the bias – the use of a language as a presumption of being a foreigner,” Bagchi asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Union government.

The petition has been filed by the West Bengal Migrant Workers Welfare Board.

The development came amid the Trinamool Congress repeatedly raising concerns about several Bengali-speaking migrant workers being detained in parts of the country on the suspicion of being Bangladeshis.

Since the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the police in several states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party have been detaining Bengali-speaking persons – mostly Muslims – and asking them to prove that they are Indian citizens.

Several persons have been forced into Bangladesh after they allegedly could not prove their Indian citizenship. In some cases, persons who were...

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