By Anant Gupta
The phone calls came a day before a crucial court hearing.
On August 13, the Calcutta High Court was to hear Jiyem Sekh’s petition asking the government of India to explain why his son Amir Sk had been forcibly sent to Bangladesh.
Amir, a 19-year old from Malda, West Bengal, had travelled across the country to find work on a construction site in Bhilwara, Rajasthan. In June, his family lost touch with him. A month later, a video surfaced on social media showing him sobbing. “I am in Bangladesh,” he said in the video. “The BSF pushed me across the border,” he said, referring to India’s Border Security Force.
The video left the family horrified. They knew Amir had fallen prey to a campaign underway in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, where in search of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, the police had detained and interrogated thousands of migrant workers from West Bengal. What they did not expect was that he had been forced across the border into Bangladesh.
Amir’s father moved court on August 7.
Before the court could hear the petition, Amir’s uncle Ajmaul Sekh received a series of phone calls. The callers identified themselves as BSF officials. They said Amir was in their care.
“They told me that he was healthy and that he had received medical treatment as well,” Ajmaul recalled. “Then they asked me to come to Kolkata and take him back quietly. I felt that they were trying to hush up the matter because they wanted to save face in court.”
The family travelled to the border on August 13.
Amir came back home to his village, Narayanpur, in time for Independence Day celebrations.
This story was originally published in scroll.in. Read the full story here.