It all began in 2000 when the lines outside local toilets started to swell. The men spoke Hindi in strange accents. Today, these are drowned out by the whirring of rusty sewing-machine wheels. The noise fills narrow lanes, no more than two feet across. Peep into the grim, dark rooms and there are people hunched over in distinctively Bengali lungis, furiously cutting and stiching.Silently, without local authorities noticing, the population of Bangladeshis in Mumbai’s Golibar enclave has swelled, by some estimates, to about 20,000 in just two years. They have overrun the zari business and made it their own. They own shops, homes, and clearly, they are here to stay. It is an indication of the hurdles the police will face if they were to actually follow up on the pronouncement of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani that all Bangladeshis must be thrown out.‘‘The matter will be looked into,’’ remarks Deputy Commissioner of Police Bipin Bihari. There isn’t much more to say. His beat officers attached to the Golibar area admit the influx is undocumented and incredibly hard to turn back.The only people who believe otherwise are some local residents who have come together under the banner of the Hindustani Samaj Seva Samiti (Hindustan social service committee). ‘‘We are trying to put an end to the Bangladeshi menace,’’ says a neat, angry man who will only identify himself as AM. ‘‘We are looking for some political backing.’’The backing won’t come easy because the influx didn’t happen overnight. The first immigrants trickled in around 2000.Once they are in, the rest is pretty straightforward: hire a 10-sq ft room and share it with 10 other immigrants, most of whom are bachelors who have made it here after a long trek and train ride from back east. Today, many with ration cards (obtained without verification of address), and hence a modicum of permanence, are willing to talk about it.‘‘Initially, the incumbent hires the room paying deposits ranging between Rs 45,000 and Rs 55,000,’’ explains Mohammed Jamal, a local resident. ‘‘Once he settles down, he invites his relatives and friends in Bangla Desh.’’ Many original immigrants have added on rooms and let them out to newcomers.
