This story is from January 21, 2020

Bengaluru: Migrants from Koppal, Kolar at pains to prove they aren’t illegal squatters

Bengaluru: Migrants from Koppal, Kolar at pains to prove they aren’t illegal squatters
(Left) Karanna, a daily-wage labourer, came to the city from Koppal;(Right) Ayub Baig, who moved to Bengaluru from Kolar two years ago. Both lost their huts in the demolition drive
BENGALURU: “Do I have no right to live in this country?” That’s the only question 38-year-old Ayub Baig posed to whoever he met at Kariyammana Agrahara, Bellandur, on Monday.
Just 24 hours earlier, bulldozers commandered by BBMP and police officials had razed to the ground his tiny hut, where he not only lived but also sold chicken to eke out a livelihood.
“You are all Bangladeshi immigrants,” the officials had declared, as they went about flattening 300 shanties, including Baig’s hut, at three different spots in Bellandur.
Ayub, who moved to Bengaluru from Kolar two years ago, was among hundreds of residents who were literally picking up pieces from where their homes stood a day ago. Like many others, Ayub didn’t wave his Aadhaar and voter ID cards to prove his citizenship. He, in fact, spoke in chaste Kannada.
The residents alleged that not only were they not given any advance notice, but officials also ignored their fervent pleas and documents proving they were bona fide citizens of the country.
Ayub said he shifted to Bellandur after his business in Kolar failed and added that he earned around Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 every month. “Around 10am on Sunday, I was at work when the earthmovers arrived and began demolishing the line of huts in which mine too stood. Neither did they give us time to explain, nor did they bother to see our documents. All they said was that the people who live here are ‘illegal Bangladeshi immigrants’,” he added.

Ayub lived in the 10ftx15ft shanty with his wife and two children, who study in a government school nearby. The father of two is now in a fix: he has no shop to make a living and he isn’t sure if he can rebuild his hut as another similar drive can’t be ruled out.
At least two lines of huts were demolished in Ayub’s area. The drive was halted in the face of commotion created by residents.
There are about 300 houses in the locality and the residents are mostly from rural parts of Kalaburagi, Bagalkot, Raichur and Koppal districts of Karnataka, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and other states. Residents here pay Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 as rent every month to an agent, who claims to represent the land owner.
“This isn’t the first time officials have come to us with threats of demolition. We were ready to show our documents but they didn’t have the patience to look at them. If they find a single illegal Bangladesh national among us, they can arrest him or her,” said Ayub.
Saleem Pasha, who is from Assam and works as a security guard in a software firm located in the tech corridor, said, “We were desperately showing our documents, but they just went ahead and demolished our huts, saying we were causing ‘nuisance’ in the area.”
“We were told that they received complaints from a neighbouring apartment. Many of us here work in the same apartment as security guards, housekeeping staff and domestic helps. How is it that we are a nuisance,” asked Pasha.
‘Is Koppal in Bangladesh?’
Karanna, a 36-year-old dailywage labourer, said he came to Bengaluru six months ago because of drought in his home district, Koppal. “I was heading to work on Sunday morning when all of a sudden the roads were closed and earthmovers came in. I was given 10 minutes to remove valuables from my house,” he said.
“I asked officials if Koppal was in Bangladesh. If a Kannadiga is not able to live in Karnataka, where can he go,” asked Karanna.
Karanna, his wife and daughter have found temporary shelter at a friend’s house in the same settlement.
Didn’t receive plaints: Cops
Mahadevapura MLA Arvind Limbavali, who recently asked officials to act against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the locality, did not respond to calls and messages. Jurisdictional Whitefield division police said they hadn’t received any complaints about occupants of these shantytowns being illegal Bangladeshi migrants or holding illegal Aadhaar or voter IDs.
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