MCD Orders Delhi Schools To Identify Illegal Bangladeshi Migrant Children, Sparks Row Ahead Of Polls

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has instructed schools to identify children of illegal Bangladeshi migrants and ensure they are not issued birth certificates, according to an India Today report.

This directive comes shortly after the Delhi L-G Secretariat ordered a crackdown on illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, becoming a new point of contention between the ruling AAP and the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections.

Photo Credit: AI image generated via WISE

The MCD has also directed its zones to remove encroachments by illegal Bangladeshi migrants. The deputy commissioner of the MCD has asked for an action report by December 31.

"The education department will take appropriate preventive measures to identify illegal Bangladeshi migrants while giving admission in municipal schools. It is also requested that proper identification and verification drives may also be undertaken to identify the illegal Bangladeshi migrant children in schools," said the deputy commissioner's order.

In response to the directive, AAP MP Sanjay Singh claimed that the MCD's order was an attempt to humiliate and disrespect the Purvanchali community by targeting illegal migrants. Singh also accused BJP national president JP Nadda of equating Purvanchalis with "Rohingya infiltrators" and "Bangladeshis". The Rohingyas are a Muslim minority group from Myanmar.

"They want to humiliate the poor from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Through this order, they want to threaten Purvanchalis, their children, and bulldoze their shops and houses in jhuggis," said the Rajya Sabha MP.

Purvanchalis, migrants from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, make up about 42 per cent of Delhi's electorate. The community holds significant influence in nearly half of Delhi's 70 Assembly constituencies, including important areas such as Burari, Laxmi Nagar, and Dwarka.