Malda: In the border districts of West Bengal, a pervasive sense of dread has taken root. Driven by the state government’s aggressive new “detect, delete, and deport” policy, the sudden emergence of fortified holding centres and a controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls have left minority communities terrified of being branded foreigners in their own land. Holding centres have been established in the state to house undocumented migrants pending deportation.“I have kept the voter IDs, Aadhaar cards, and ration cards of everyone in my family close at hand. Even when I go to the market, I carry my voter ID and Aadhaar card with me. This has become a habit over the past two months. I will not deny that a fear is working inside me, and that is because of my religious identity,” said Taimur Khan of Mothabari in Malda.The SIR exercise, conducted ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, has become central to the present fear. The revision led to the deletion of around 91 lakh names in West Bengal, amounting to nearly 10.9% of the state’s electorate, disproportionately affecting Muslims. A holding centre in Malda. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar.“I couldn’t vote this time because of SIR. Three people in my family do not have their names on the list. Now, I don’t know when a lawyer will fight our case,” said Gulshan Sheikh of Lalgola. “The police are arresting many people by labelling them as Bangladeshis. Our past seven generations have grown up on this soil, but there was never such danger before.”Murshidabad and Malda were among the districts most affected. Murshidabad, a Muslim-majority district with large riverine and erosion-prone areas, saw over 4.55 lakh voters not found eligible to be in the electoral rolls and placed under adjudication, while in Malda, 2.93 lakhs lost their voting rights after the judicial review. For those already excluded from the voter list and awaiting tribunal approval, the new policing and detention infrastructure has deepened fears of being treated as foreigners.The anxiety is particularly acute in char and riverine areas, where families often lose land, homes, and documents to seasonal flooding and erosion.In Malda’s Kaliachak, teacher Ali Hossain sounded anxious. “If someone has a dispute with the police for any reason, they fear that the power to brand them Bangladeshis and deport them lies solely in their hands. There is no opportunity for the law or courts to intervene. So, it is natural to be afraid.”West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari has defended the campaign. After reports of Bangladeshis gathering near Hakimpur, he warned, “Jaldi jaldi bhago nahi toh jo karna hai sarkar karega (escape fast, or the government will do what it has to do)”.The state’s current drive is linked to a broader policy framework that emerged from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ May 2025 deportation guidelines. These guidelines called for district-level special task forces, biometric tracking, document verification, cancellation of identity documents found to be improperly obtained, monthly reporting to the Union government, and the creation of dedicated holding centres instead of keeping suspected foreign nationals in ordinary prisons.Also read: A Key Bengal BJP Govt Scheme Has a 10-Page Application Form. Here’s Why it is Leading to Fears of DisenfranchisementMalda Superintendent of Police Anupam Singh said, “Infiltrators are being apprehended and kept here. Arrangements are being made for their food and lodging. After this, the state IB [Intelligence Bureau] will discuss the matter with the BSF and take the next steps. We are simply doing our job as a nodal agency.”Padma Bhavan near Bahadurpur Panchayat in Lalgola has become a guarded holding centre. Photo by arrangement.Police have not disclosed the identification process, though sources say intelligence officials are taking grassroots inputs from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers.Murshidabad-based Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Sakharav Sarkar told The Wire, “The government has built detention camps. Those who are meant to be kept there have started arriving. We expect these buildings to fill up very quickly. Amit Shah knows how to root out infiltrators. That work has begun.”In Lalgola, Padma Bhavan near Bahadurpur Panchayat has become a guarded holding centre. Fifteen alleged infiltrators, reportedly from Kushtia, were detained from Barshatigola, Bidupur and Suti. Police say they entered through agents for work. In Malda’s Bagbari, a self-help group building has been fortified. Nine Bangladeshis, including three women and six minors, were detained after allegedly entering through Hili and begging in Gazole.TMC leader and lawyer Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury said, “It is true that panic has spread regarding these camps. It should be thoroughly investigated why they came to India. If someone comes to beg, that’s one thing. If someone comes for a livelihood or with some other malicious intent, that’s a different matter altogether.”The new holding centres in West Bengal have drawn comparisons with Assam’s transit camp system, where suspected foreigners have been detained under a framework shaped by foreigners’ tribunals, court orders and the National Register of Citizens process (NRC). Unlike Assam’s older detention regime, the West Bengal model appears to rely more heavily on district-level administrative verification and direct coordination between police and border forces.Rights activist Sukanta Das said, “Democracy is being suffocated and murdered through this process. First, by weakening its foundation, a derogatory identity is being forced upon a section of people. A force has come to power that is suppressing independent voices. The distinction between a citizen and an enemy is no longer decided by law, but entirely by the will of the rulers. It is a horrific situation.”Sunali Khatun with her son Apon. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar.The case of Sunali Khatun of Birbhum’s Paikar has deepened these fears. Though a permanent resident, she and her family were labelled as Bangladeshis and detained in Delhi. They were tortured and pushed into Bangladesh where they spent 111 days in forests and prison. Sunali returned, but her husband, neighbour Sweety Bibi and Sweety’s two children remain there.Sunali told The Wire, “On May 22, I heard the Supreme Court’s order that the government must bring my husband, my two sons and Sweety Bibi back to India within ten days and verify their citizenship.”However, TMC MP Samirul Islam, who took initiative to bring back Sunali mentioned, “We are no longer keeping in touch regarding this matter.”Meanwhile, advocate Sabyasachi Chatterjee underlined that documentary evidence proving that they are Indian citizens have already been found and they should be brought back as per the Supreme Court’s order. “As per the apex court’s verdict, the government must first bring them back within ten days and then verify their documents. Documentary evidence proving they are Indians has already been found. So, is it legal to push Bengali-speaking Indians directly back to Bangladesh without verifying any documents?” Chatterjee said. The official terminology of holding centres has done little to mask the reality on the ground. Locally, these buildings are already regarded as detention camps. For poor minorities and people dropped from voter lists, the fear is of becoming foreigners in the only homeland they have ever known.Translated from the Bengali original and with inputs by Aparna Bhattacharya.