Chandannagar: An eerie silence now hangs over the narrow lanes of the Kuthir Math area of Chandannagar in West Bengal. Locals whisper their disbelief as they look towards the once-celebrated Asha Bakery household, whose name still commands high esteem in the neighbourhood.
At the centre of this turmoil is Fatima Bibi, a frail woman suffering from multiple chronic illnesses, nearing 70 years of age. Last Saturday, police from the Chandannagar commissionerate arrived unannounced at her residence and detained her on allegations that she is an undocumented Pakistani immigrant.
Despite presenting her voter ID and Aadhaar card – documents that have allowed her to vote in several elections – the authorities deemed them insufficient.
Fatima now remains in 14-day judicial custody, while her husband Mozaffar Mallik, once a locally renowned businessman, lies sick in bed, shaken by the ordeal.
“We can’t show our faces in public. We were born and raised and built our lives here. And now, people are being told our mother is Pakistani. It’s a lie – and it’s devastating,” said Nilofar, one of Fatima’s daughters. “I still believe the government has made a mistake.”
Asha Bakery had been highly regarded for decades. Rezzak Molla, Fatima’s father-in-law, established a reputation for quality that turned his family into a household name. Fatima married into the family 45 years ago. Relatives say she rarely left her home after getting married.
Both her daughters are married and stay nearby.
“We’ve heard from our elders that she was born in Nalikul, Hooghly. Her father worked in Rawalpindi for a time and they lived there briefly,” said Nazir Hossain, a 61-year-old shopkeeper from the neighbourhood. “Their home has always been here. In the 1950s, paperwork was limited. Should we jail seniors for old errors?”
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
