Amid Assam crackdown, Bangladesh says India skirting deportation protocols

Guwahati, July 28: At a time when India is intensifying its crackdown on illegal infiltrators, Bangladesh has accused New Delhi of repatriating its nationals without following due procedures.

The allegation comes amid a rising number of push-backs reported along the Assam-Bangladesh border.

Speaking to the press during a visit to the RAB-11 office in Siddhirganj, Narayanganj on Saturday, Bangladesh's Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury claimed that India has been pushing Bangladeshi citizens into the country through unofficial channels.

"We have always repatriated Indian nationals through proper channels, but India is not doing it. It has been leaving our citizens in forests and by rivers, which is unacceptable. It's a violation of human rights," Chowdhury told a Bangladesh-based newswire service.

He added that while Bangladesh is ready to take back its citizens who have been living in India for "10 to 20 years", the country will not accept Rohingya refugees.

“If they are our citizens, we have to take them back, but we're not accepting Rohingyas,” he told The Daily Star.

Chowdhury’s comments come at a time when the BJP-led government in Assam, under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has adopted a more aggressive stance on illegal immigration.

The state cabinet recently decided to forgo prolonged legal proceedings and push back undocumented individuals directly at the border.

Sarma cited a recent Supreme Court hearing on Article 6(A) of the Constitution, during which the apex court reportedly clarified that Assam is not obligated to follow a lengthy legal process to deport illegal migrants.

Earlier in May, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had urged Dhaka to expedite nationality verification, pointing out that over 2,000 such cases remain pending.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had stressed India’s willingness to accelerate the deportation process, pending cooperation from the Bangladesh side.