SIR process in West Bengal-Special Amendment aims to update the Voter list and remove Illegal Immigrants, a move the BJP plans to push in the upcoming Assembly Polls

Detection and deportation: Delhi Police deported a record 2,200 people in 2025, compared to just 14 in 2024.

SIR process in West Bengal: The aim of the Special Intensive Revision is to update the voter list and remove illegal immigrants, which has prompted many to migrate.

Border Security: BSF has handed over the arrested persons to Border Security Bangladesh.

Migration: As per a report in 2016, there were around 20 million undocumented migrants from Bangladesh in India. These actions are part of a broader and sometimes controversial policy to address illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Since the start of Special Intensive Revision (SIR), thousands of illegal Bangladeshi migrants have been leaving India through various border check posts in West Bengal. After taking biometrics and completing the necessary documentation, the Border Security Force (BSF) is handing over the Bangladeshi nationals to the Border Security Force (BSF) Bangladesh (BSG).

Many Bangladeshis who had illegally entered India from North 24 Parganas are returning to their country through the Hakimpur check post in Surwannagar. Some of the illegal migrants had been living in India for more than 10 years and had participated in the voting process and had enlisted their names in several government welfare schemes. The BSF at the Hakimpur check post informed that around 1600 Bangladeshi nationals have returned since the start of SIR in West Bengal.

A special screening process has been initiated in twelve states of the country and many Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators have started fleeing India. A large number of such infiltrators are seen returning to Bangladesh near the Bangladesh border. These infiltrators do not have any proper proof of Indian citizenship; hence, they have started leaving India.

More than 500 illegal immigrants are stranded near the Hakimpur border in Bangladesh. Most of them were living in and around Kolkata and were working as labourers or domestic helpers. Now, families of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants are worried about being caught without proper documents. This fear is driving them towards Bangladesh. One person reported that he got scared after the re-examination started and immediately shifted to the India-Bangladesh border. One woman said that she has been working as a domestic helper for over a decade without any legal documents of Indian citizenship. Now, she wants to return to Satkhira (Bangladesh).

The Border Security Force (BSF) has termed this as a reverse migration. The BSF is trying to stop illegal immigrants from entering India. However, the Bangladesh security forces are not allowing them to enter the country; Therefore, hundreds of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants are stranded on the Bangladesh border. More than 12,000 illegal immigrants detained According to BSF sources, the number of people trying to escape to Bangladesh has increased significantly since the re-examination was announced.

In the last three months, the BSF has apprehended more than 12,000 Bangladeshi illegal immigrants from the Bangladesh border. Addressing a joint press conference at the BJP central headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party West Bengal state president Shri Samik Bhattacharya and state minister Shri Sukant Majumdar criticized Mamata Banerjee and the All India Trinamool Congress over the voter list purge and border security in West Bengal.

This work is going on in 12 states of the country, yet nowhere else is there so much harassment as in West Bengal regarding the purging of voter lists. It was recalled that in August 2005, the Chief Minister of West Bengal himself had demanded voter ID cards. On 4 August 2005, a paper was thrown on the Speaker’s table in the Assembly, alleging that the voter list was being filled only with the names of Bangladeshi infiltrators and that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) wanted to contest elections using that list. At that time, Mamata Banerjee was openly opposing this issue, but today the same Chief Minister has reached Delhi to protest against the entire process going on in West Bengal. Serious questions have been raised about what is happening in West Bengal now and where the situation is heading.

It is said that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are being threatened and forced to upload fake papers in the system. West Bengal shares a nearly 2,200 km long border with Bangladesh, most of which is porous and dotted with numerous water bodies. It was emphasised that no single force on its own could stop illegal infiltration. A coordinated approach was needed, combining political will with public awareness.

Such demographic infiltration could not be stopped through unilateral efforts, it was claimed. It was described as an international conspiracy, which the Bharatiya Janata Party has been continuously raising for a long time. Issues related to the international border were cited as a matter of serious concern at the political and administrative levels and West Bengal, as a border state, has repeatedly witnessed such incidents.

The West Bengal BJP state president asserted that the agenda of the Congress at the Centre is very clear. The West Bengal voters’ list includes Bangladeshi infiltrators, Rohingyas, people who were temporarily present and left after completing their work and fake voters whose names were registered on vacant land addresses. Names that were personally confirmed to be excluded have also been found in the voters’ list. During this entire process, booth level officials are being intimidated and threatened. An attack on the life of a woman BLO’s husband has also been reported. BJP booth level agents and party workers are also being prevented from filing Form-7.

With the help of the All India Trinamool Congress, the entire administrative machinery has been politicized, and all kinds of efforts are being made to stop this process at all costs. Mamata Banerjee has vowed to uphold the Constitution. However, the provisions of the Indian Constitution are being openly flouted, and unnecessary controversies are also being created over the language used by the Election Commission. This protest is not being held for any common cause. It is also said that the Chief Minister has approached the Supreme Court, but this is not the only issue. 25 people have lost their lives and about 30 are still missing in the major fire incident in Anandpur, Kolkata. Although the incident site is about 10 km away, the Chief Minister did not visit the incident site, but traveled about 1,500 km to reach Delhi.

The BJP MP has commented that there is a threat to India’s internal security, which the Bharatiya Janata Party will not accept or tolerate under any circumstances. There has been a drastic change in the demographic structure of many states. This issue is not limited to West Bengal alone; a similar situation has been witnessed in the border districts of Bihar and Jharkhand, including the border areas and adjoining areas, where the democratic system is being directly affected.

The situation has become so bad that whenever there is a raid, the Chief Minister reaches the spot with the full state machinery including the Commissioner of Police, senior officers and administrative machinery where arguments, documents and papers are forcibly taken from the officers of the Enforcement Directorate to protect the people under investigation. A well-planned environment has been created in West Bengal to enable such work. It was claimed that there is only one reason behind this entire agitation.

Mamata Banerjee knows full well that the numbers of the All India Trinamool Congress have dwindled and the foundation of power has started crumbling. The people of Bengal have also resolved that this government will not be allowed to continue under any circumstances. Mamata Banerjee was described not as an outsider but as a leader who understands the ground realities and knows very well that the time of the Trinamool Congress is coming to an end. The final countdown has begun, and that is why today, from the Supreme Court to the streets, protest politics and pressure tactics are being used everywhere.

When MPs of any party openly question the credibility of the Supreme Court in front of journalists, when party workers enter the Calcutta High Court to disrupt the work of judges and put up posters outside the judges’ houses, then it becomes meaningless to talk about the sanctity of the Constitution. In West Bengal, the constitutional order and the judicial system have completely collapsed. The situation has become so bad that even journalists are not spared. The same Mamata Banerjee, who once openly threw papers on the Speaker’s table and declared that the voter list was being filled with Bangladeshi names, is now trying to create confusion on the issue of infiltration.

It was claimed that this issue demands serious attention at the national level. India shares more than 4,000 borders.Assam, Tripura and West Bengal share a border with Bangladesh, which is 1,200 km long. West Bengal alone covers over 2,200 km. Managing such a long and sensitive border is no ordinary task, yet there is no cooperation from the state government. The Border Security Force has asked for land for essential infrastructure, but the Chief Minister has refused to provide it.

After the change of government in 2011, the state administration openly declared that not even a square foot of land will be given. When a government lacks a comprehensive and clear policy on border management, the consequences are visible to all. Recently, the Chief Minister has said that the BSF will not be allowed to operate up to 50 km and can only be considered for operations limited to 15 km. In such a situation, no state or any country can function effectively. It has also been said that the political culture and vote-bank politics of West Bengal, unfortunately, have become sharply different from the broader political culture of the rest of India.

The West Bengal BJP state president said that more than 300 BJP workers have been victims of violence since 2016. During the 2021 assembly elections, in just 27 days, 56 BJP workers, including women workers, were killed. Many women BJP workers have openly said that they were gang-raped. The All India Trinamool Congress has destroyed the very foundation of democracy. For the Trinamool Congress, elections are no longer a democratic process, because there is no faith in the democratic system. There is no faith that people can vote peacefully. The Panchayat elections, Municipal Corporation elections and other local body elections in West Bengal were mentioned, where widespread violence was witnessed everywhere.

The blood-stained elections continued for three to four consecutive days. The situation has become so bad that now the number of BJP workers has surpassed the total number of deaths in the previous phase. A comparison was made with the Congress era to show how bad the situation has become in West Bengal today.

Members of the Scheduled Tribes are being killed and minorities are facing maximum attacks. The political data of the last three years clearly indicates a worrying increase in violence. It was said that Muslims are being targeted in the name of Muslims. In Muslim-dominated villages, those responsible for arson and bloodshed are clearly visible and identifiable.