Fourteen members of an Odia Bengali Muslim family from Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district were allegedly pushed towards Bangladesh by the Border Security Force in December 2025 after being branded as “Bangladeshis”. The family, which includes children, women and elderly members, has been missing for weeks even though they are Indian citizens with valid Aadhaar cards, voter IDs, birth certificates and land documents.
According to family members, the incident took place on the night of December 26, 2025, near the Gede border in West Bengal’s Nadia district. They alleged that, taking advantage of dense fog, BSF personnel pushed 14 people across the border and left them in the no man’s land. The group reportedly includes a two-year-old child and a 90-year-old woman.
The family members pushed towards Bangladesh have been identified as Gulshan Bibi, aged 90, Sheikh Jabbar, aged 70, his four sons Sheikh Hakim, Sheikh Ukil, Sheikh Raja and Sheikh Banti, along with several women and children from the family. All of them are residents of Ambika village under Ersama police station in Jagatsinghpur district and have been living in Odisha for decades.
Relatives said the family was first detained on December 8 after local police allegedly vandalised their homes and took all 14 members into custody. A relative told eNewsroom, “Despite showing all our documents, the police did not listen. For weeks, we were not told where they were kept or what was happening to them.”
Another family member, Sheikh Akram, said they came to know about the alleged pushback only through media reports. “We later learned that they were pushed into Bangladesh from the Gede border on December 26. This is an illegal action by the Odisha administration and the BSF,” he said.
The family claims their ancestors migrated nearly 70 years ago from South 24 Parganas in West Bengal to Odisha in search of work and still own land in Bengal. Several members of the family were born in Odisha and are registered voters there.
The incident has drawn political reactions. West Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar has written to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, expressing concern over what he described as increasing harassment of Bengali speaking migrant workers in BJP ruled states. In his letter, Sarkar mentioned the Odisha family’s case and alleged that people are being targeted simply for speaking Bengali.
Human rights group Indian Justice Forum has called the incident a serious violation of the Constitution. Its chairman, advocate Asfak Ahammed, said, “Pushing Indian citizens into another country just because of their language or religion is inhuman and illegal. This violates Supreme Court guidelines. If no action is taken, we will move the Odisha High Court.”
