Staff Reporter:
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has alleged that Indian authorities are forcibly expelling ethnic Bengali residents, mostly Muslims from West Bengal, into Bangladesh without due process, leaving many stranded along the border amid growing tensions between border forces of the two countries.
In a statement issued yesterday, the London-based rights organization claimed that actions by India’s Border Security Force (BSF), coupled with efforts by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to prevent unau-thorised entry, have left dozens of families stranded at the border “zero line” between the two countries.
According to Bangladeshi border authorities cited by HRW, since June 1, BGB has foiled 21 alleged attempts by the BSF to push more than 200 people, including women and children, into Bangladesh through various border points.
“Indian authorities are cruelly dumping families into Bangladesh or leaving them stranded at the border, ignoring their basic human rights,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch.
“The (Indian) government should stop unlawfully expelling people, ensure procedural safeguards, en-gage with Bangladeshi authorities to verify citizenship, and end this dismaying animosity toward Mus-lims,” she added.
Human Rights Watch said it interviewed several witnesses who described Indian border guards bringing groups of people to the border at night and attempting to push them through openings in barbed-wire fencing into Bangladeshi territory.
The rights organization cited several incidents in Panchagarh and Thakurgaon districts where families, including children and a pregnant woman, were allegedly stranded for extended periods at the border after Bangladesh authorities refused them entry and Indian authorities initially prevented their return.
HRW also expressed concern over India’s citizenship verification and voter list revision processes, alleg-ing that exclusion from electoral rolls had resulted in detention, deportation threats and heightened inse-curity among Bengali-speaking communities in parts of India.
The organization noted that Bangladeshi authorities have maintained that they will not accept any indi-viduals pushed across the border outside established legal procedures and verification mechanisms.
HRW urged Indian authorities to ensure due process, including access to information, legal representa-tion and appeal mechanisms for individuals facing deportation.
“India should end these brutal expulsions, and both governments should ensure that border management never again comes at the cost of basic human dignity,” Ganguly said.
