Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that only declared foreigners are being pushed back as per the law.
A video has emerged in the 'no man’s land' along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam’s South Salmara Mankachar district, Where Khairul Islam’s claimed that he is an Indian national and being deported to Bangladesh. Islam was among nine persons arrested by Morigaon police on May 24 in a crackdown on illegal immigrants declared by the Foreigners’ Tribunal, but who had been avoiding deportation.
Sarma on Friday said, “The Supreme court has directed us declared foreign nationals must be sent back. Declared foreigners who did not appeal in the court we had been pushed back. On Thursday we apprehended 35 Bangladeshi nationals along the Meghalaya and Silchar border. They came some days back and we instantly pushed them back.”
He added, “In meeting with SPs in Dergaon we have decided that we will fast track the process of detection of foreigners. As the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process was underway, detection of foreigners was temporarily suspended. So in the days to come detection will take place, push back will be done and the government of India after talks with the Bangladesh government will send some foreigners. So these three ways will continue.”
Chief minister said, “Whoever has not gone to higher judiciary despite being declared a foreigner, and not preferred appeal against the tribunal order, they must go. We have 30,000 people who despite being declared foreigners have disappeared, if we find somewhere we have to take action against them. Whatever is done is as per law.”
Islam was declared a foreigner by the Foreigners Tribunal in 2016, a decision he challenged in the Gauhati High Court. The High Court upheld the FT’s ruling, leading to his detention in 2018.
Family members of Islam said that appeal against the FT decision is pending before the Supreme Court.
Debabrata Saikia, Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, has written to External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar expressing grave concern over the Assam Government’s ongoing detention and forced pushback of alleged illegal immigrants.
In his letter dated 30th May Saikia highlighted several serious violations of constitutional rights and due process in what is being termed as Assam’s “push back drive.”
The letter details that since 23rd May 2025, Assam Police have arbitrarily detained hundreds of Indian citizens not involved in any citizenship-related legal proceedings. While most detainees were eventually released, their wrongful apprehension itself points to serious procedural lapses. Families remain uninformed about the whereabouts of detainees, violating basic transparency norms. Media reports confirm that many detainees, including women, have been forcibly pushed into the no-man’s-land at the India-Bangladesh border, leaving them stateless as Bangladesh refuses to accept them.
Saikia reminded the EAM that this action directly contradicts India’s stated position on deportation, quoting Dr. Jaishankar’s own parliamentary statement that emphasized the necessity of “unambiguous verification of nationality” before any repatriation. The letter notes with concern that these operations appear to target Muslim communities, undermining India’s secular fabric. It also points out that several cases are still pending before the Supreme Court, making these detentions and pushbacks a clear violation of the judicial process.
Saikia has urgently appealed for central intervention to immediately halt these unconstitutional actions, ensure proper nationality verification before any deportation, release all wrongly detained Indian citizens, and make detainee information publicly available.
He stressed that pushing people in the no-man’s-land without proper legal procedure is both illegal and fundamentally inhumane. Saikia said ,“Pushing Indian citizens into no-man’s-land without verification is unconstitutional and fundamentally inhumane. The repatriation during the pendency of a Supreme Court case constitutes a grave breach of the judicial process. This further violates international human rights standards."
A video has emerged in the 'no man’s land' along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam’s South Salmara Mankachar district, Where Khairul Islam’s claimed that he is an Indian national and being deported to Bangladesh. Islam was among nine persons arrested by Morigaon police on May 24 in a crackdown on illegal immigrants declared by the Foreigners’ Tribunal, but who had been avoiding deportation.
Sarma on Friday said, “The Supreme court has directed us declared foreign nationals must be sent back. Declared foreigners who did not appeal in the court we had been pushed back. On Thursday we apprehended 35 Bangladeshi nationals along the Meghalaya and Silchar border. They came some days back and we instantly pushed them back.”
He added, “In meeting with SPs in Dergaon we have decided that we will fast track the process of detection of foreigners. As the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process was underway, detection of foreigners was temporarily suspended. So in the days to come detection will take place, push back will be done and the government of India after talks with the Bangladesh government will send some foreigners. So these three ways will continue.”
Chief minister said, “Whoever has not gone to higher judiciary despite being declared a foreigner, and not preferred appeal against the tribunal order, they must go. We have 30,000 people who despite being declared foreigners have disappeared, if we find somewhere we have to take action against them. Whatever is done is as per law.”
Islam was declared a foreigner by the Foreigners Tribunal in 2016, a decision he challenged in the Gauhati High Court. The High Court upheld the FT’s ruling, leading to his detention in 2018.
Family members of Islam said that appeal against the FT decision is pending before the Supreme Court.
Debabrata Saikia, Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, has written to External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar expressing grave concern over the Assam Government’s ongoing detention and forced pushback of alleged illegal immigrants.
In his letter dated 30th May Saikia highlighted several serious violations of constitutional rights and due process in what is being termed as Assam’s “push back drive.”
The letter details that since 23rd May 2025, Assam Police have arbitrarily detained hundreds of Indian citizens not involved in any citizenship-related legal proceedings. While most detainees were eventually released, their wrongful apprehension itself points to serious procedural lapses. Families remain uninformed about the whereabouts of detainees, violating basic transparency norms. Media reports confirm that many detainees, including women, have been forcibly pushed into the no-man’s-land at the India-Bangladesh border, leaving them stateless as Bangladesh refuses to accept them.
Saikia reminded the EAM that this action directly contradicts India’s stated position on deportation, quoting Dr. Jaishankar’s own parliamentary statement that emphasized the necessity of “unambiguous verification of nationality” before any repatriation. The letter notes with concern that these operations appear to target Muslim communities, undermining India’s secular fabric. It also points out that several cases are still pending before the Supreme Court, making these detentions and pushbacks a clear violation of the judicial process.
Saikia has urgently appealed for central intervention to immediately halt these unconstitutional actions, ensure proper nationality verification before any deportation, release all wrongly detained Indian citizens, and make detainee information publicly available.
He stressed that pushing people in the no-man’s-land without proper legal procedure is both illegal and fundamentally inhumane. Saikia said ,“Pushing Indian citizens into no-man’s-land without verification is unconstitutional and fundamentally inhumane. The repatriation during the pendency of a Supreme Court case constitutes a grave breach of the judicial process. This further violates international human rights standards."
