Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday claimed that 33 more “illegal infiltrators” had been sent back to Bangladesh. The BJP leader, however, did not specify the districts from where they had been detained.
Sarma said that “stringent efforts” to identify and deport undocumented immigrants are underway and will be intensified in the coming days.
Earlier this week, Sarma had told reporters that state police have been “pushing back” between 70 and 100 undocumented immigrants into Bangladesh each week. According to PTI, more than 450 people have been forced across the border in recent months.
The state government’s aggressive deportation drive comes amid a wider crackdown across BJP-ruled states, where Bengali-speaking persons – mostly Muslims – are being detained and asked to prove their Indian citizenship in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. In some cases, individuals mistakenly pushed into Bangladesh were later brought back after authorities verified that they were Indian citizens.
On May 20, Sarma had said that Assam was “duty-bound to protect the interests of the state” and to “expel all illegal immigrants through any means, as per directions of the Supreme Court.” The statement referred to the court’s February 4 ruling directing the state to deport persons who had been declared foreign nationals.
However, the Opposition has sharply criticised the government’s actions. Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in May, warning that the so-called pushbacks “appear to target Muslim communities, undermining India’s secular fabric.”
Citing media reports, Saikia alleged that detainees, including women, had been forcibly left in the no man’s land along the India-Bangladesh border, rendering them stateless since Dhaka has refused to accept them.
