Political row erupts over 'heckling' of Bihar job aspirants in Bengal

Kolkata/Patna: A purported video of two CISF job aspirants from Bihar being heckled by some people in West Bengal has kicked up a row, with political parties in Bihar denouncing the incident and TMC asserting that candidates from other states have always been welcome and if there was a "stray local incident", the party will look into it.

The purported video from Siliguri showed two youths from Bihar allegedly being asked to produce documents and being heckled by a group of people who accused them of trying to get jobs in central forces by producing fake domicile certificates of West Bengal, depriving people born and living in the state.

Speaking on the incident, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said that West Bengal believes in democratic rights of every citizen of the country and will never allow harassment of anyone.

"Some conversations were going on, some people wanted to see papers. We are in the process of getting more details. But I reiterate, many people come to West Bengal in search of jobs and many from our state also go to Bihar and other parts of the country. Our government welcomes everyone. There is nothing like that (harassment of prospective candidates), there should not be any such thing for any Indian," he said.

Ghosh said that though there have been reports of migrant labourers from West Bengal facing harassment and even being lynched in BJP-ruled states, neither the TMC nor the state government ever played up the issue apart from lodging protests as "we believe India belongs to every citizen who can go anywhere in the country".

Meanwhile, claiming that the two youths were in possession of fake domicile certificates, Garga Chatterjee, general secretary of Bangla Pokkho, an outfit advocating for Bengali language and identity, alleged in a video message that a racket has been at work for the past three years to issue fake domicile certificates of West Bengal to youths from outside the state, thus depriving bonafide residents of West Bengal to apply for jobs in central forces like BSF, CRPF and CISF.

"While one can be entitled to domicile quota by residing in a state for 10 years, these youths have passed class 10 board exams and plus two exams from their respective state boards and procured the domicile certificate through fraudulent means with the help of an inter-state racket and the local police are turning a blind eye to the issue. Otherwise, how can you explain their age considering the 18-27 years age limit for such jobs. If you examine the school leaving certificates and marksheets of these people, you will automatically understand they had never been residents of West Bengal," Chatterjee claimed.

Stating that the incident took place in Siliguri on Wednesday, Chatterjee claimed those locals who went to verify the documents of the youth did not heckle them and only asked them to show their documents but the youths continued to argue.

Admitting that the role of surveillance and checking should be left to the police, he added, "We had been repeatedly asking for setting up of police camps in front of examination centres to scrutinise the documents of the youths as we want that the domicile quota reserved for youths of state is not compromised and tampered with and also the internal security of the country is not compromised." "Similar quotas exist for candidates in other states for jobs in central forces but do youths of West Bengal go there and adopt unfair means? We believe in federal spirit and we are not against brothers of any other state," he added.

Chatterjee said CBI is investigating the fake domicile racket in West Bengal following a PIL lodged by a petitioner over the issue but the authorities here are not proactive on the matter.

Meanwhile, NDA leaders in Bihar slammed Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee over the incident.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh, in a post on X, wrote, "Has Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal taken the contract of only saving rapists? The West Bengal government gives a red-carpet welcome to Rohingya Muslims but kids from Bihar, who have gone there to appear in the competitive exam, are being thrashed!!! Are these children not part of India?" Echoing a similar view, Union minister and chief of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), an alliance partner of NDA, Chirag Paswan, wrote in a post on X, "The brutal assault on Bihari students in West Bengal is very unfortunate and condemnable. The chief minister of that state has once again insulted the Biharis, which cannot be tolerated at all. I want to ask Mamata Banerjee ji: Is it a crime to appear for an exam in West Bengal?" "I want to ask the Leader of Opposition of Bihar... on what grounds/basis will you support the TMC now? I request Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Ji to get the matter thoroughly investigated and take legal action against the culprits," he added.

Senior JD(U) leader Neeraj Kumar told PTI, "Why is the West Bengal CM maintaining a stoic silence over the issue? This country belongs to everyone. A large number of people hailing from West Bengal live in Bihar, but they never face such humiliation. Our government in Bihar will certainly take cognisance of the incident." Meanwhile, Bihar Additional Director General (ADG) of Police (Law and Order) Sanjay Singh wrote a letter to his West Bengal counterpart requesting adequate security for the students seen in the viral video. Singh also urged the West Bengal Police to provide an update on the inquiry into the matter.