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A 39-year-old domestic worker from Naigaon East, in Maharashtra, along with her three sons, has been allegedly pushed into to Bangladesh despite holding Indian documents, sparking questions over police procedure and citizenship verification. The woman, identified as Aaysha Bibi Seikh, says she was born in Mumbai in 1986. Her husband, Murad Seikh, passed away in 2007, leaving her to raise three sons - Nishar (22), Mirajul (20), and Aakash (15), by working as a house help.
Post the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir, the Home Ministry had issued a notification bestowing powers to authorise to identify and push out illegal immigrants. While Pakistanis were asked to leave, many Bengali speaking migrant workers have borne the wrath of the drive where they have been suspected to be Bangladeshi in mostly Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) ruled states. Several migrant workers, since didn’t have a birth certificate - their other credentials had failed to convince the police.
According to Aaysha, police picked them up without any warning and suspecting them to be “illegal Bangladeshi migrants” from their slum off Don Bosco road in Naigaon, roughly 3 hours from the financial capital Mumbai. “The date was June 09 when in the middle of the night we were woken up by the sound of the boot outside the door and the subsequent knocks. People asked if we were Indians or Bangladeshis. I have been voting in every election. I have voted in 2024 Lok Sabha election. So when I was voting I was Indian but then that night police thought we were Bangladeshi. They didn’t see our document and didn’t give us a chance to explain”, said Aaysha over phone, now languishing in a village in Khulna, Bangladesh, as being claimed by her. She was born in 1986 to Bengali migrant labourers who were working at a construction site in Mumbai, she claimed. That said, she has Aadhar, PAN Card, voter id, e-shram card issued by Government of India, bank accounts where she would deposit money for the past decade, hoping to secure a better future for the children.
“We showed them Aadhaar, PAN, school records. None of it mattered,” said Nishar Seikh, the eldest son from Khulna. “We were born here, studied here, worked here. Why did they throw us out? After picking us up, they kept us in a container for days. We were not given food, not treated well. Then from there they took us to an office in Navi Mumbai where they did our biometrics. From there they took us to Pune. On the road they kept us waiting for hours, as if they were waiting for some instruction from somewhere. Then they took us to the airport and made us board a plane along with others who too were picked up under suspicion. We were told that they will take us to West Bengal for some verification. We had no other choice but to trust them. But they took us to Bagdogra airport in West Bengal and then handed us over to BSF”, recounted Nishar. His voice broke down narrating as what happened next. Nishar alleges that BSF personnel threatened him of dire consequences and were unwilling to listen. “While we kept pleading, BSF said they will shoot us if we don’t calm down. They threatened us that they will kill us and no one will get to know. On the night of June 14, they pushed us into Bangladesh via Panchagarh border. BSF people said, go straight or else will shoot you four. That night stole our identities as Indians”, he added.
News The Truth had verified their claims and found documents that indicate that -
Nishar has birth certificate issued by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. His birth date is consistent in all documents - Aadhar, PAN Card, school class 10 admit card, school records. Similarly, his younger brother Mirazul has birth certificate, Aadhar card, PAN Card, voter card and had been going to the same school. Like Nishar he too had passed secondary boards from Our lady of Vailankanni. According to the brith certificate issued by Government of West Bengal, Mirajul was born on 16th November 2005 at a government hospital in Bongaon, North 24 paraganas. Aayasha claims he was born in West Bengal while she was visiting her relative’s place. The youngest son Aakash was born in 2009, his birth certificate was issued by Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra. He has an Aadhaar card and had been going to the same school in Naigaon like his two other brothers.
“Aakash has been studying at out school. His two other brothers have passed from her. Aakash was in the 9th standard. They have given all documents during their admission. Going by these documents I can say they are Indians and not Bangladeshi. No police ever called us for any verification”, said Melwyn Sequeira, Principal of Our lady of Vailankanni School.
Several people in Naigaon who knew Aaysha confirmed her long-standing presence in the locality. A friend, who doesn’t want to identified, who worked alongside her as a domestic help, said: “We both worked in the same house. Her children went to school here. Everyone knew them. She was Indian. My daughter is in class X and Aakash was in class IX. They were friends.
One of the employers, at whose house Aayasha worked for the past 15 years, also confirmed that she had two bank accounts and at times he would also transfer the monthly salary to her on her account. “I paid her salary every month, sometimes directly into her bank account. I know she had a bank account because I saw it. How can anyone say she was Bangladeshi? Her children were born here in India” he said
Two of Nishar’s close friends, who grew up with him in Naigaon, are still in shock.
“We want them back. They are Indians like us. But fighting the system is scary. We don’t know what it will cost us,” one of them said, requesting anonymity. They have studied together in the same school and one of them had also applied in the same college along with with Nishar for graduation. He showed the counter of receipt from a college in Borivilli where Nishar had deposed Rs 3000 admission fees. “I have seen his birth certificate, he has all the documents like what I have. If he is Bangladeshi then so am I and if I am Indian then so are they”, he said.
Police have maintained that the deportation was part of an anti-migrant operation in June, where over 150 alleged Bangladeshi nationals were detained. However, questions remain over whether due process was followed. Did the police verify documents with issuing authorities? Was the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) consulted? Was the family produced before a court before deportation? None of these questions have received official answers. News The truth has shot off emails to Maharashtra DGP, Police Commissioner of Vasai Virar and FRRO. There has been no response as yet.
The case has raised disturbing questions about procedure and citizenship. This has triggered fear in Bengali and Muslim communities in the region, with many asking if they could be next. Several relatives of Aaysha have refused to testify before court or press, fearing they too would be thrown out, since they too are Muslims. For now, Aaysha and her three children remain in Bangladesh, struggling with an identity crisis. “We are Indians. Born in India. Our lives are here. Please bring us back, please ask someone to move to court on our behalf” Nishar pleaded. At least two people - both from West Bengal’s Malda, who were pushed out and then later managed to come back after the intervention of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, call this drive violation of human rights and the constitution - that allows equal rights to every Indian
