The recent brutal assault on students from Bihar who travelled to West Bengal to take government exams is a shocking reflection of the deep-rooted hypocrisy and selective compassion that now defines the state’s politics. While these aspiring candidates faced brutal attacks and humiliation simply for seeking a better future, we witness another appalling irony unfold – undocumented immigrants, particularly Bangladeshis, are being treated with more humanity and respect than our own fellow citizens.
In what world is it justifiable that students who traverse state lines to secure employment – one of the few remaining promises of upward mobility – are subjected to mob violence, while illegal entrants from across the border are offered shelter and, in some cases, even protection? The shocking arrest of Bangladeshi actor Riya Aarohi Barde for acquiring a fake Indian passport only underscores the severity of the situation – West Bengal is increasingly becoming a sanctuary for foreign infiltrators, while those within India are treated as outsiders in their own land.
Bihar sends its youth in droves to other regions in search of better opportunities. These young aspirants, full of hope and driven by necessity, expect at the very least a level playing field. But instead, they are greeted by hostility, violence, and exclusion. For the Bihari students, the streets of West Bengal – an integral part of the same nation – turned into battlefields. They faced not only verbal abuse but physical assault, simply because they dared to dream of a government job.
Meanwhile, West Bengal’s open-door policy towards Bangladeshi immigrants continues unabated. These outsiders, often undocumented, are welcomed and given refuge, seemingly with little regard for the long-term consequences on jobs, resources, or the social fabric. It begs the question – Why are the residents of India’s own poorer states treated as pariahs while non-citizens are granted a place at the table?
The double standard is staggering, and the silence of the West Bengal administration is deafening. Where is the outrage for the Bihari students, who were merely exercising their constitutional right to seek employment? Where is the justice for those who were left bruised and battered, not by fate, but by the very system that should have protected them?
Middle Class Hub, India’s first platform dedicated to the concerns of the middle class, condemns this blatant disregard for justice and equality. The assault on Bihari students is not just an attack on a group of individuals – it is an assault on the idea of India itself, where every citizen should have the right to travel, work, and live without fear of persecution.
We urge the Central government and the West Bengal administration to take immediate action to ensure that such heinous incidents do not occur again. The state cannot continue to prioritise the well-being of foreign nationals over that of its own citizens. To allow this to continue unchecked would be to fail the very people for whom the Indian state exists.
We stand with the students of Bihar, and we stand for an India that values its own citizens first.
