NEW DELHI — Families of Bengali-speaking Muslim residents in eastern India have accused Indian authorities of forcibly pushing their relatives into Bangladesh after wrongly labeling them “illegal migrants,” raising serious concerns about citizenship rights, due process and communal targeting.

The allegations center on a group of Bengali-speaking Muslims from India’s eastern states, including Odisha and West Bengal, who were detained by Indian security forces in late 2025. Relatives say those detained held valid Indian identity documents — including Aadhaar cards, voter registration records and land ownership papers — yet were still taken to the India-Bangladesh border and expelled.

In several reported cases, Bangladeshi border officials refused to accept the individuals, saying they were Indian nationals. Some were reportedly pushed back and forth between the two countries before eventually being returned to India after diplomatic intervention.

Pattern of “pushbacks”

Human rights organizations say these incidents are not isolated.

International watchdogs, including Human Rights Watch, have documented a growing pattern of so-called “pushbacks” — the informal expulsion of people from India into Bangladesh without formal legal proceedings. These cases have overwhelmingly involved ethnic Bengali Muslims, many of whom have lived in India for generations.

Rights groups warn that such practices violate Indian law, which guarantees due process, and international norms that prohibit the arbitrary deprivation of nationality and collective expulsions.

India’s Border Security Force (BSF), which patrols the frontier with Bangladesh, has not publicly addressed specific allegations about these cases, but Indian authorities have repeatedly said their actions are aimed at stopping “illegal immigration.” Muslim advocacy groups argue that language, religion and appearance are increasingly being used as proxies for citizenship — with devastating consequences for ordinary families.

Citizenship under pressure

The controversy unfolds against the backdrop of India’s highly contested citizenship policies, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and proposed nationwide citizenship verification measures. Critics say these frameworks place Muslims — particularly Bengali-speaking Muslims — at heightened risk of exclusion.

Legal experts note that under Indian law, possession of Aadhaar, voter ID and long-standing residence records should establish a person’s legal status unless a court rules otherwise. Deportation or expulsion without judicial oversight is unconstitutional.

Yet families involved in these cases say they were given no opportunity to challenge the accusations, consult lawyers or present their documents before being taken to the border.

Impact on Muslim communities

For India’s Muslim communities, the pushback allegations have triggered widespread fear.

Bengali-speaking Muslims in particular say they now face a climate of uncertainty in which their citizenship can be questioned despite decades — or generations — of residence. Community organizations warn that the practice risks turning millions of Indians into de facto stateless people, eroding trust in public institutions and deepening communal divisions.

Bangladeshi authorities have also expressed concern, stating that they cannot accept people who are not Bangladeshi citizens and that any cross-border movement must be handled through lawful diplomatic and legal channels.

Calls for accountability

Civil rights groups are calling for independent investigations into the alleged expulsions and for clear safeguards to prevent future abuses. They say India must uphold its constitutional promise of equality before the law — regardless of religion, ethnicity or language.

For the families caught in the middle, the issue is painfully simple: their relatives are Indian — and they want to come home without fear.