Swarupnagar: The queue of Bangladeshis looking to return to their homeland has been steadily increasing at the Bithari-Hakimpur border checkpost in North 24 Parganas, with dozens adding to the numbers even on Wednesday. Such has been the rush that three holding centres have been set up in Swarupnagar’s Tetulia, Charghat and Media, said sources. Many have been moved to these centres, for detailed verification of papers and background.Sitting at the border with his family and luggage, a dejected Bachchu Munshi said SIR ended his stay in India, where had come from Khulna with his parents at the age of 10. The middle-aged Munshi, who stays with his family in Michael Nagar near Madhyamgram, said: “I have lived in India most of my life. I came in as a child, and now… my two daughters and son are married. In 2014, my family and I received Aadhaar cards. Later, we obtained ration cards, PAN cards and EPICs. I cast my vote for the first time in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. But since we did not have documents dating back to 2002, our names were deleted in SIR. Realising that we would no longer be able to stay in India, we decided to return to Bangladesh.”An elderly man, who crossed over from Jessore merely four years ago, said he had paid Rs 7,000 to an agent to come to India. Living in a rented accommodation in Durganagar, he had been working as a labourer. However, with the “detect-delete-deport” policy of state govt in force, he thinks returning is the only option left to him.Satkhira’s Shamima Khatun had entered India eight years ago with her husband and son through the Ghojadanga border. “We have Aadhaar cards, voter cards and all other documents. I even used to receive Lakshmir Bhandar benefits regularly every month. We crossed the border between the two countries several times. But our names have now been removed from the voter list during SIR. We do not want to take the risk of staying here any more,” she said.
