Navi Mumbai: Three children born in Thane are being deported to Bangladesh and face permanent estrangement from their mother, Shehnaz Shaikh, an Indian citizen. The youngest of the three, Zeenath, aged two, was still being nursed by her mother before she was taken away.
Shehnaz refused to leave them alone and accompanied them and her husband, Hassan Mukhtar Shaikh, to the detention centre in Roadpali in Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai. While she is still there, the rest of the family has been taken to Kolkata, from where the Border Security Force will take over.
Answer to the question why Hassan has been detained is not as simple as “illegal Bangladeshi immigrant’. It’s a lost-and-found story turned on its head. Hassan’s father, Mukhtar Kadir Shaikh, a resident of Mamnoli village in Kalyan, has alleged illegal detention. “My son was detained on the basis of a statement made by a Bangladeshi, Inamul Mulla, who claimed Hassan was his lost son,” Mukhtar said.
In 1999, Hassan, then five years old, was indeed lost and found by an Adivasi community in Potgao near Murbad. A police patil brought him to the police station. The police patil’s son, who worked as a mason at Mukhtar’s residence, told the childless family about the lost Muslim boy and suggested adopting him. The family did exactly that but were told that if someone comes claiming the child, they would have to hand him back. A relative said that the boy spoke Hindi and not Bengali.
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When no one came looking for Hassan even after a year, Mukhtar made an affidavit as his guardian in 2000 and got him enrolled to a local school in class 1. The Navi Mumbai police said Hassan grew up to become a driver. Once in Panvel, he heard the name of ‘Takka’ village, which sounded familiar. He recognised a temple and recollected living somewhere nearby.
A police officer said Hassan started looking for his family and found his father Inamul Mulla, who was from Bangladesh. On June 7, he and his family went to visit them for Eid when the Panvel police raided the place for illegal immigrants and caught Mulla, who said Hassan was his son.
One of Hassan’s relatives said, “How can a 30-year-old man suddenly remember his childhood? The police can make any claims or even make others give any statements. We are not allowed to meet him and his family and their phones have been seized after detention. After the raid, Shehnaz managed to call her mother briefly and that’s how we found out.”
Hassan and Shehnaz’s families are now running between the police station and the local court to get at least one paper that mentions the reasons for detention. Police sources said a special drive against Bangladeshis is being conducted wherein they are not being produced before the court after detention and are being deported directly.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (special branch) Rashmi Nandedkar said, “We are conducting a drive to nab Bangladeshis staying illegally and more information can be revealed only after we complete the drive in the coming days.”
Even as the police have started the process of deporting Hassan and his kids – Humaira, 8, Ali, 6, and two-year-old Zeenath – Shehnaz will be left alone in their Bhiwandi home. The relative said that the kids’ birth certificates were issued by the Thane Municipal Corporation and Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation.
He said, “Hassan has lived all his life here. The man, who claims to be his biological father, has nothing to prove. How is Shehnaz supposed to live without her kids and husband? What is Hassan supposed to do in Bangladesh where he has never been?”
The police stated that as per rules, anyone born in India before 1987, even to Bangladeshi parents, will get Indian citizenship. Those born between 1987 and 2004 with at least one Indian parent will get Indian citizenship.
However, children born after 2004 with even one parent from Bangladesh, are illegal residents. In Hassan’s case, police claim Mulla and his wife had migrated from Bangladesh at least 35 to 40 years ago and Hassan was born after 1987, making him an illegal resident.
