MUMBAI, Aug 12: A delegation of Communist Party of India (Marxist) led by Rajya Sabha MP Biplab Dasgupta today met Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and discussed the issue of deportation of Bangladeshis. The delegation which included Central Committee member Ahilya Ragnekar and district secretary Mahendra Singh, before meeting the CM, visited Bangalipura in Wadala earlier in the day and talked to the Bengali-speaking people in the locality.Late last month West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu had raised objection to the deportation of alleged Bangladeshis by the Maharashtra government, saying that the people who were deported were Bengali-speaking people and not not Bangladeshis.On July 23, a mob led by Forward Bloc MLA Rabin Ghosh stopped the Kurla-Howrah Express and blocked the way of the Maharashtra and Mumbai police who were deporting the Bangladeshis and were going to hand over a batch to the Border Security Force to deport them. The Forward Bloc that among them were Bengali-speaking people who wereworking as zar-workers or were doing petty jobs in Mumbai.Couple of weeks back, a Forward Bloc delegation led by Lok Sabha speaking people and in a communication sent to Joshi said that the party was not objected to the deportation of Bangaladeshis, but care should be taken that Bengali speaking people are not harassed.A delegation of Trinamool Congress led by former union minister Ajit Panja met the state chief minister and later said that he was convinced that those deported were definitely Bangladeshis. He however, requested the Chief Minister to stop the deportation till the Durga puja, which Joshi has agreed. The Calcutta High Court has also temporarily stayed the deportation process.
