Assam: Academics, lawyers, academics condemn ‘push back’ of persons to Bangladesh

New Delhi: In an open letter sharply condemning the detention and alleged expulsion to Bangladesh of a number of people declared foreigners by tribunals in Assam as a violation of their rights, a group of activists, lawyers and academics has urged the government to stop such expulsions and allow the return of those sent across the border. Dozens of those expelled to Bangladesh reportedly have appeals against their declaration as foreigners pending in the Supreme Court, the letter noted.

“Pushbacks,” said the letter using the term being used by the government for these expulsions, “fall on the wrong side of constitutionality” and violate the rights to life and equality of those expelled.

“Pushbacks also risk putting the people into grave peril by putting them in the line of fire of Bangladeshi border guards or at risk of being detained by Bangladeshi authorities for illegal border crossing,” thereby placing them in “double jeopardy”, the letter said.

Following their late night detentions without due process, these persons were allegedly forced into the ‘no man’s land’ between Indian and Bangladeshi posts along the border. There are reports of some of them experiencing violence in Bangladesh as well as having been transported back to Assam since.

Some have alleged that in many cases, due process – part of which would involve Indian officials cooperating with their Bangladeshi counterparts in expelling people – was not followed.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has confirmed that the state is ‘pushing’ people into Bangladesh. He also claimed that “we are not troubling” those persons who have appealed their declaration as foreigners in court.

Bangladeshi officials have meanwhile expressed their unhappiness to the local press.

The open letter also said that the regime of the quasi-judicial foreigners’ tribunals of Assam that have declared these people not to be genuine citizens of India “itself rejects all logic of documentation, evidence and due process” and functions as a “Damocles sword” that jeopardises the security of many Indians.

The communication also called on the state to end pushbacks and allow those expelled to Bangladesh to return to India; to end the detention of declared foreigners in Assam’s Matia detention centre; and to provide free legal aid and compensation to the families of those ‘pushed’ into Bangladesh.

The state must stop detaining those declared foreigners who are out on bail and adhering to their conditions of release “until and unless [the] nationality and addresses of the said individual is verified by Bangladesh”, it added.

The entire statement is appended below.

Public Statement condemning the pushback of Indian citizens by the state in Assam

As concerned citizens, activists, lawyers, academics, and human beings, we strongly condemn the recent pushback by the Indian government of Indian citizens from Assam to Bangladesh. On May 27, 2025, the collective conscience of the nation was shaken as fourteen Indian citizens were deported by the Border Security Force to Bangladesh, against all known human rights norms and constitutional protections guaranteed to all the citizens of this country. Shamefully, this group of 14 includes Khairul Islam, a middle-aged government school teacher who has done nothing but dedicate his life to the service of the nation and its children. As per reports Khairul Islam’s case challenging his status as a declared foreigner is pending in the Supreme Court. In another case Manikjan Begum and her 8-month-old child were deported. In some cases, as in the case of Monowara Bewa, even those who had their appeals pending in the Supreme Court were deported.

Pushbacks fall on the wrong side of constitutionality. They are in clear violation of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which protects the right to life of all persons, and not merely citizens. Further, in the absence of any opportunity to be heard before being arbitrarily sent ‘back’ to Bangladesh, there is a clear contravention of the procedural rights of these citizens, including under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. Pushbacks also risk putting the people into grave peril by putting them in the line of fire of Bangladeshi border guards or at risk of being detained by Bangladeshi authorities for illegal border crossing. The India-Bangladeh border is one of the most dangerous borders in the world. Therefore, by pushing back marginalised people, the Indian government have put them in double jeopardy.

Reports in the media suggest that most of those who have been subject to this inhumane act of state violence have at some point been declared a ‘foreigner’ through Assam’s dangerous and arbitrary Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) regime, and subject to detention. In several cases, time and again, FT orders declaring a person foreigner have been overturned by the higher courts. The Supreme Court has held that the state cannot randomly pick a person charge him a foreigner on mere suspicion. Deportation of DFNs without allowing them to challenge in the higher courts FT orders declaring them foreigners are actions based on suspicion and a violation of human rights.

The Matia transit camp in Goalpara, where these declared foreigners are detained, stands for a disturbing erosion of constitutional rights, where individuals are confined in conditions that undermine both human dignity and fundamental rights. The regime of the FT itself rejects all logic of documentation, evidence and due process, and places Indian citizens with strong ties to the land at the mercy of the bias of the state. This underlying quasi-judicial Damocles sword has threatened the security of hundreds of thousands of Indians. We firmly denounce the travesty of the FTs’ arbitrariness and express our firm opposition to the State’s pushback policy based on such a broken system.

We call on the state to:

1. Completely and immediately end all pushbacks , and allow the return of those citizens who have already been forcibly deported to Bangladesh;
2. End the detention of individuals marked as ‘declared foreigner nationals’ (DFN) at the Matia Transit camp;
3. Provide free legal aid and compensation to families of those deported to challenge deportation and disenfranchisement of the person concerned.
4. Immediately stop arresting, let alone deporting, DFNs who have been released on bail from the detention center and have been adhering to the terms of the bail, until and unless nationality and addresses of the said individual is verified by Bangladesh.

Signatories:

1. Pakeezeh (Padmini) Baruah, National Law School of India University, Bangalore
2. Debasreeta Deb, University of Hyderabad.
3. Shaheed Ahmed Alomgir, Advocate
4. Ravi Hemadri, Development and Justice Initiative, New Delhi
5. Hena Naaz, University of Hyderabad
6. Arshad Ahmed, Independent Journalist
7. Shagufta Ahmed, PhD Scholar, Rabindranath Tagore University, Hojai
8. Prasant Paikray, Spoke Person, Anti-Jindal & Anti-POSCO Movement (JPPSS), Odisha
9. Syeda Hameed
10. Apsana Begum
11. Manzoor Ahmed khan
12. Habibul Bepari, Social Activist, CJP
13. Imdadul Islam
14. Jabir A A Choudhury, Law Student and State Vice President, AAP Students Wing  15, SUBRATA ROY, Centre of Medical & Sales Representatives’ Union, Silchar.
15. Kalparnab Gupta, Research Scholar, IIT Bombay and Chief Coordinator, Barak Union for Civil Liberties
16. Pankaj Kumar Das, Secretariat member of Assam State Committee, CPI(ML) Liberation

Related:

CJP’s submits supplementary memo to NHRC revealing returnee testimonies after Assam’s allegedly unlawful expulsion of persons to Bangladesh

Assam: When six ordinary Indian women were forcibly pushed out from India–No Man’s land– Bangladesh & then back

Assam: Slamming Sarma’s actions as discriminatory & unlawful, LOP, Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia calls for an urgent stop to “pushback” of citizens