NEW DELHI – Human rights groups and legal experts have condemned India for carrying out what they call illegal and discriminatory deportations of Muslims to Bangladesh, many of whom claim to be Indian citizens. The alarming reports have sparked fear among India’s 200 million Muslims, especially in the eastern states where Bengali is widely spoken.
According to officials from both countries, hundreds—possibly over 2,500 people—have been forced across the border since May. Many victims say they were pushed into Bangladeshi territory at gunpoint without trial or proper documentation checks. Bangladesh’s border authorities have confirmed receiving over 1,600 people, including some they identified as Indian citizens and sent back.
Rahima Begum, a 50-year-old woman from Assam, recounted her terrifying experience. She said police detained her in late May, took her to the border at night, and forced her and five others to crawl through swampland into Bangladesh. “They told us not to stand or they would shoot,” she said. After being caught and beaten by Bangladeshi guards, she was eventually returned home with a warning to stay silent.
Indian authorities have remained largely silent on the scale of deportations. However, Assam’s chief minister confirmed that at least 300 people had been deported. In Gujarat, over 6,500 people were rounded up in a major crackdown following a security operation linked to an earlier attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Many of the detained were Bengali-speaking Muslims, later released without explanation.
Legal experts have called the deportations unconstitutional and unlawful. “You cannot deport people without due process or without the receiving country’s consent,” said civil rights lawyer Sanjay Hegde. Rights activist Harsh Mander accused the government of fueling an “ideological hate campaign,” claiming Muslims were being profiled and targeted based on language and identity.
Moreover, cases like that of 35-year-old mason Nazimuddin Mondal highlight the issue’s human cost. Mondal said he was flown on a military plane from Mumbai to Tripura and pushed into Bangladesh despite showing his Indian ID. Now hiding in West Bengal, he says he’s afraid to step outside for work. As pressure mounts, activists are calling for transparency, justice, and an immediate halt to the alleged human rights violations.