Homesick Bangladeshi inmates of Bengal prison on fast

Twenty-eight homesick Bangla-deshi inmates of Cooch Behar Reformatory Home launched a hunger strike on Tuesday.
The Bangladeshi citizens were arrested and jailed a few years ago for alleged illegal immigration. Now, they have completed prison terms but are unable to go back home since the Bangladeshi government is not keen.

Cooch Behar district magistrate S Mahapatra confirmed that Bangladesh Rifles had twice turned down official requests to take the prisoners back.

The West Bengal government also alleges negligence on part of the Union home ministry in settling the issue at the earliest. According to sources, it sent several requests to the home and external affairs ministries to take up the matter with Dhaka. “However, there has been no positive response from that quarter as well,” a home department official said.

Cooch Behar prison officials are trying their best to convince the inmates to end the strike. “If they refuse to budge, we will have to resort to forced nasal feeding. Many of the 28 prisoners are aged and suffer from different ailments. In such a situation, prolonged fasting can be dangerous for them,” a prison superintendent said.