Instant pushback may rid Assam of illegal Bangladeshi burden

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Of late, the Government of India has adopted a policy of pushing back illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators instantly. This policy has resulted in the deportation of hundreds of Bangladeshi infiltrators from India, including from Assam.

Had such an instant pushback policy been adopted in Assam instead of the meandering quasi-judicial detection of illegal infiltrators, Assam would not have to stagger under the huge burden of around 85,000 declared Bangladeshis over the years. Strangely enough, these 85,000 Bangladeshis have blended with the local population, making their detection too complicated.

A few days ago, Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “After the recent change in the political scenario in Bangladesh, we have been pushing back Bangladeshis instantly every day. We have pushed back hundreds of Bangladeshis so far. We’ve adopted the policy of instant pushback as the quasi-judicial detection and deportation of Bangladeshis continues to remain a bitter pill for us.”

According to official statistics, until March 2025, the Border Police referred 4,36,046 suspected Bangladeshi cases to the foreigners’ tribunals. Of them, with the disposal of 3,84,014 cases the FTs declared 165,992 as illegal Bangladeshis. Strangely enough, only 30,115 of the declared Bangladeshis have been deported so far.

Foreigners tribunals came to the scene in Assam in 1964 following complaints lodged with the then Central government with allegations of harassment of the minority population in Assam in the name of deportation of people entering the state from erstwhile East Pakistan. After the complaint, the then Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order 1964 on March 23, 1964. Since then, as and when a suspected foreigner is caught, the process of his or her detection has to follow the meandering quasi-judicial process. However, this system has not been implemented in any other state in the country where the police have the power to investigate and deport them instantly if they are proven to be foreigners.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has been crying foul on India’s policy of instant pushback to Bangladesh. The neighbouring country has lodged a formal complaint with New Delhi in this regard. Bangladesh says that many of the pushed-back individuals have not been verified if they are Bangladeshi citizens. “India’s unilateral deportation efforts violate diplomatic protocols,” they said.

According to official sources, the MHA has empowered the BSF and Assam Rifles with extraordinary authority under national security laws to act swiftly to detect and deport Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. “The 30-day deadline bypasses the traditionally slow and bureaucratic verification process that often took months for identification and deportation of illegal Bangladeshis,” an official source said, adding the example is Assam, which has to stagger under the burden of illegal Bangladeshis for years and on.

Also Read: Assam: Policy to Push Back Bangladeshi Intruders

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