New Delhi, November 19: A tense and unprecedented scene is unfolding along West Bengal’s border with Bangladesh, where illegal Bangladeshi nationals in India are attempting to return home voluntarily amid fears sparked by the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, of voter lists.
Hundreds of undocumented Bangladeshi nationals who have lived in India for years some for more than a decade are now desperately trying to go back home.
In the last few days, the Hakimpur check-post in North 24 Parganas has become the focal point. Hundreds of people, entire families including women and small children, were stranded on the Indian side, desperately trying to cross back into Bangladesh. Many of them told reporters on the ground that they had slipped into India illegally years ago, found jobs as daily-wage workers or domestic helps, and even managed to get their names on voter lists. One man summed it up simply, according to India Today: “The BLOs are coming house-to-house now. If they catch us, it’s jail or deportation. It’s safer to go home while we still can.”
The Border Security Force says this sudden reverse rush began almost the day door-to-door enumeration started on November 4.
We saw smaller groups earlier 48 detained in one go in Basirhat, then dozens almost every day after that but nothing on the scale we’re witnessing now,” a BSF source said.
The Scale of the Challenge
The magnitude of the SIR exercise is enormous. Election Commission data shows that only 32% of West Bengal’s current voters have been successfully matched to the 2002 base year roll. This means a staggering 68% over 5.2 crore people are currently designated as “Unmatched,” raising concerns about potential mass disenfranchisement.
This 68% includes not just suspected illegal immigrants, but also an entire generation of new voters aged 18-41, internal migrants, women who married into Bengal from other states, and many whose documents contain minor spelling errors.
Political Battle Lines
The BJP is calling it “self-deportation.” As quoted in The Hindu, party leaders claim: “Those who don’t belong here are packing up and leaving on their own.”
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sees it very differently. Just hours ago, she posted a strongly-worded statement after the tragic suicide of a Booth Level Officer in Jalpaiguri. Mamata said the pressure of the SIR workload has become “unbearable” and claimed that 28 people have lost their lives since the process began some genuine citizens out of fear of being struck off the rolls, others field workers from sheer exhaustion.
She has demanded that the Election Commission suspend the exercise immediately.
Beyond Illegal Immigration
The anxiety isn’t limited to undocumented migrants. Hindu refugees from the Matua community—who had supported the BJP expecting Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) benefits are now panicking as many cannot trace their families to the 2002 roll. Internal migrants from Bengal working in states like Rajasthan fear being excluded from voter lists in both locations.
Adding to the Controversy
A few weeks ago, hundreds of old Aadhaar and voter cards were fished out of a pond in Purbasthali, East Burdwan, during routine cleaning. Local officials insist most were legitimate duplicates surrendered earlier, but the timing has only added to the political heat.
Election Commission’s Stand
For its part, the Election Commission keeps repeating the same line: this is purely an administrative drive to remove duplicate, deceased, and ineligible entries nothing more. They insist no original documents are being collected right now and genuine voters with valid proof have absolutely nothing to worry about.
Ground Reality
But the pictures coming from the border tell their own story: anxious families waiting near the zero line, BSF jawans on high alert, and Bangladesh Border Guards on the other side pushing people back.
With door-to-door verification still ongoing till December 4 and the final voter list only due in February, West Bengal is clearly on edge.
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