Opposing the offering of namaz in the open spaces in the Millennium City, the right-wing organisations have argued that a majority of the Muslims in the city are illegal Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingyas.
In contrary to this, the Gurugram police have identified and deported only one Bangladeshi migrant during its periodic special drives this year so far.
“The Gurugram police carry out special drives against illegal Bangladeshis at regular intervals every year. So far, we have identified only one illegal Bangladeshi this year and deported him,” said Gurugram police spokesperson Ravinder Kumar.
The right-wing organisations have been blaming the swelling Muslim population in the Gurugram over the past few years to the increasing population of illegal Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingyas.
Mr. Kumar, however, said that there was no confirmed information on the presence of Rohingyas in Gurugram.
One of the major demands of the right-wing organisations in their nine-point charter to the district administration has been identification of these illegal migrants.
‘False propaganda’
Reacting to it, Indian Islamic Research Centre president Matlood Ahmed said that the fact that only one Bangladeshi has been deported so far this year proves that the right-wing organisations are carrying out a false propaganda against the Muslims in the city.
He said that the most of the migrant Muslim population to Gurugram are involved in menial jobs such as domestic workers, rickshaw pullers and construction workers.
A majority of them are from Malda, Murshidabad and 24 Parganas, he said, adding that being residents of districts bordering Bangladesh, these Muslims are not well-conversant with Urdu and speak Bengali.
Ishraq Thameem, a Muslim resident of Gurugram involved with the community, said that the migrant Muslim population in Gurugram comprised the Bengali natives of Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia districts, Muslims from neighbouring areas like Mewat, Nuh, Faridabad, Alwar. They are engaged in some type of skilled work, he added.
‘Religious needs’
The others include Muslims of a different literate and social level, educated and aware and maulavis, and huffaaz who have come here drawn by the religious needs of these people.
Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti Executive Committee Rajiv Mittal, however, said that it was the failure of the police administration to identify only one Bangladesh so far and they need to work harder.
Muslims of a different literate and social level, educated and aware and maulavis, and huffaaz who have come here drawn by the religious needs of these people.
A senior police officer, who has earlier worked at Gurugram’s FRRO Branch, said that drives against illegal migrants were carried out on regular basis, but without much success.
“The maximum number of illegal migrants identified in a single year was a 100-odd a few years ago,” said the officer.
He added that most of these migrants have voter identity cards made at their native places and it was difficult to establish that they were staying illegally in India, adding that it was a politically sensitive issue.
