Asger Risom
Human rights groups report that Indian Muslims are being rounded up and unlawfully sent across the border to Bangladesh without due process, raising alarm over escalating persecution.
India has faced serious allegations from rights organisations accusing the government of rounding up Indian Muslims, suspected of being undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh, and forcibly deporting them to Bangladesh, often by threatening victims at gunpoint.
Local lawyers and returnees confirm that some deported individuals are Indian citizens.
Those who resisted being pushed across the border were threatened with firearms by India’s Border Security Force (BSF).
After identifying Indian citizens, Bangladeshi officials have occasionally repatriated around 200 individuals — but only after they endured perilous journeys across forests and rivers, often bruised and traumatised.
Allegations of Illegal Deportations
Taskin Fahmina of the Bangladeshi rights group Odhikar asserts: India is bypassing legal procedures to expel mostly Muslims and economically vulnerable citizens into Bangladesh, an act that flouts both national and international law, The Guardian reports.
Among those pushed back was 62‑year‑old Hazera Khatun, who nearly drowned while crossing back into India, fearing she would be shot if caught by BSF agents.
Escalating Crackdown in Assam and Beyond
The crackdown, dubbed “Operation Sindhoor” and launched in May following an Islamist militant attack in Kashmir, has intensified efforts to expel suspected “illegal Bangladeshis.”
In Assam, a state‐run foreigners’ tribunal system typically targets Muslims, requiring them to prove citizenship. Activists say around 100 individuals detained in the recent push are now missing.
The Assam chief minister has declared a policy of automatic expulsion for dubbed “illegal foreigners.” Claims in other states—Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra—suggest thousands are being rounded up.
For example, Gujarat police detained over 6,500 individuals paraded as suspected Bangladeshis, though only 450 were later confirmed to be undocumented.
Humanitarian and Legal Fallout
Reports detail forced expulsions of vulnerable individuals. One case includes 67‑year‑old Maleka Begam from Assam, who is physically disabled and stranded in Bangladesh despite possessing proof of her Indian citizenship.
Bangladesh’s Border Guard director Maj Gen Mohammad Siddiqui condemned the pushbacks, calling the practice a “deviation from humane governance” that violates human rights and international norms.