Tue Jul 15 19:45:07 UTC 2025: **News Article:**
**TMC Alleges Harassment of Matua Community Migrants in Maharashtra**
**Kolkata, July 16, 2025** – The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Maharashtra of targeting migrant workers from West Bengal, particularly members of the Matua community. Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam, chairperson of the West Bengal Migrant Welfare Board, stated that his office received reports of police harassment of at least six Matua community members from North 24 Parganas residing in Pune.
Islam alleged that the Pune police were refusing to recognize identity cards issued by the All India Matua Mahasangha, as well as EPIC and Aadhaar cards. He questioned whether BJP MP and Union Minister of State Santanu Thakur, who himself belongs to the Matua community, considered the Matua people to be Rohingyas.
The TMC leader’s office confirmed that police detained Arush Adhikary and at least five others, including minors, on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals. Islam announced plans to protest the targeting of West Bengal migrants in Kolkata.
This incident follows previous reports of harassment and detention of migrants from West Bengal in Odisha, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. Last week, the TMC alleged that over 400 migrants from the state were detained in Odisha, prompting a letter from the West Bengal Chief Secretary to his Odisha counterpart. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has previously condemned such incidents, stating that speaking Bengali does not make a person “Bangladeshi.”
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