The Indian government has come under international scrutiny for the unlawful expulsion of hundreds of Bengali-speaking Muslims—many of them Indian citizens—to Bangladesh, without any legal recourse or verification of nationality. Human rights organisations and international observers have accused the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government of orchestrating a mass purge based on ethnic and religious profiling, violating both domestic legal protections and international human rights obligations.
Since May 2025, states ruled by the BJP—including Assam, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Odisha—have intensified detentions of Bengali-speaking Muslims. Victims, often migrant workers from West Bengal or long-time residents of Assam, have reported being arbitrarily arrested, beaten, denied legal representation, and forcibly taken to the India-Bangladesh border, where they were pushed into Bangladeshi territory under threat of violence.
Human Rights Watch revealed that among the expelled are individuals with pending citizenship appeals in Indian courts. In several cases, people declared Indian citizens by legal tribunals were re-detained and deported without explanation. The UN and global human rights experts have described these acts as collective expulsions, illegal under international law.
Bangladesh has publicly criticised India’s “push-in” policy, stating it will only accept confirmed Bangladeshi nationals via official repatriation channels. Yet India has continued to send individuals, including 100 Rohingya refugees and elderly women, across the border without legal process.
One of the victims, Khairul Islam, a 51-year-old former teacher from Assam, said Indian border forces tied him up, gagged him, and forced him into Bangladesh on May 26. “They beat me and fired rubber bullets when I refused,” he told Human Rights Watch.
The campaign follows inflammatory rhetoric from BJP leaders, who regularly refer to Bengali Muslims as “infiltrators,” further fuelling Islamophobia in India. In Gujarat, over 10,000 homes and places of worship were demolished in Bengali-speaking neighbourhoods, with the government citing national security to justify the acts.
Human rights advocates have condemned the expulsions as part of a broader pattern of discrimination, likening the BJP’s crackdown to ethnic cleansing. “India’s actions are not about managing migration—they are about targeting minorities,” said Human Rights Watch’s Asia Director Elaine Pearson. “This campaign of expulsions undermines India’s democratic and secular foundations.”