Police line up migrant workers for NRC-like check in Kodagu

In a scene that resembled the NRC exercise in Assam, thousands of migrant workers, mostly Muslims employed in coffee plantations across Karnakata’s Kodagu district, were on Thursday (January 23) forced to line up before the police with their identification documents.

Although the district police claimed the drive had nothing to do with the citizenship issue, human rights activists in Kodagu said the entire operation was conducted to intimidate Muslim migrants from West Bengal and Assam.

“This has nothing to do with NRC, CAA or Bangladeshis. We have ordered this verification because of the security threat that these people (migrants workers) pose,” Kodagu Superintendent of Police Varthika Katyar told The Federal.

She claimed migrant labourers are being suspected of being involved in a string of crimes in the district. “This has been done so that we know who’s coming into the district,” the SP said. On her orders, all police stations in the district were told to identify plantations employing migrants. Plantation owners were then ordered to send them for the verification process.

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On Thursday, police set up makeshift verification centres at four main towns of the district. By midday, at least 5,000 workers had undertaken the verification process, according to the police, with hundreds more streaming in by the hour.

Police sources said many of the workers did not have their original documents and that they have been asked to come back with their documents. They said if the workers don’t voluntarily submit themselves for the verification process, the department would start conducting raids by February.

The district, which is a stronghold of the BJP and the RSS, has been simmering with tension ever since the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was passed by the Parliament. Local news reports suggest there has been a series of incidents where right-wing activists took it upon themselves to identify “Bangladeshi intruders” in vigilante-style operations.

The most recent vigilante attack was late on Tuesday night when a Bajrang Dal mob tried to barge into a lodge in Napoklu town where about 20 migrant labourers were staying.

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Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the lodge owner said the mob wanted to drag the labourers out. “Luckily, local people intervened and prevented them from entering the building. Otherwise, who knows what could have happened,” he said.

“Of the 20 labourers, 14 were Bengali Muslims from Assam. All of them had valid NRC documents. The rest were from Bihar. But the mob was not interested in all that. They were only trying to target them because they were Muslims,” said PR Bharat, a Napoklu-based labour rights activist.

Haris Abdul Rehman, an RTI activist in Kodagu, said the police has no legal grounds to summon the workers and termed the exercise an attempt to intimidate Muslims.

“There are so many migrant workers employed in different sectors across the state. Why does the police go on an overdrive only in regions and sectors where Muslims are in the majority? We saw this in Bengaluru and now it’s spreading to Kodagu,” he said.

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