Bengal SIR Triggers Panic In Illegal Settlers, Over 500 Attempt To Flee Toward Bangladesh Via Hakimpur Checkpost

West Bengal SIR:  The special intensive revision (SIR) in West Bengal has triggered fear in undocumented settlers, who are now attempting to flee to Bangladesh.

A massive surge has been seen at the Hakimpur checkpost in Bengal's Basirhat subdivision for the past few days. The senior BSF officer, while talking to news agency PTI, said, "Earlier, such detections barely entered double digits. Now the figure is consistently in the three-digit bracket every day." According to a report by The Times of India (TOI), citing the BSF officials, over 500 people have been camping in shelters near the Zero Line at the Hakimpur checkpost, carrying essential belongings.

They have, reportedly, confessed to entering India illegally and working in Kolkata and its suburbs. The BSF officials added that none of them had identity documents, passports, or visas.

Many of those detained have claimed that they live in Madhyamram, Birati, Salt Lake, Rajarhat, etc. They were primarily working as domestic help, rickshaw pullers, and labourers.

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TOI quoted one Taklima Khatun, who admitted that she was fleeing back as she had no documents. "I was staying in a rented house for more than a decade and working as a domestic help. I have no documents. Now I want to return to Satkhira," Khatun said.

A report by News18 also cited an illegal immigrant, Anwara Begum, who said that she had been living near Dunlop in North 24 Parganas for the past three years. She added that she entered India without valid papers and so decided to return.

The SIR of the electoral rolls is currently underway in multiple states, including West Bengal. The electoral rolls will be updated based on the last similar exercise in 2002-03.

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Those in the previous rolls and their dependents will not have to provide any document of proof except marking the presence of their/parents' name in the voter list. However, those whose names or whose parents' names are not in the 2002-03 rolls will have to provide one of the 11 documents listed by the Election Commission.

This has triggered panic in illegal settlers who are residing in India but can't prove their roots to the country before 20 years.