BORDER detentions and forcible expulsions, commonly referred to as “pushbacks,” are not isolated incidents but form part of a systematic pattern across Eastern India. Reports from Assam, West Bengal, and adjoining border districts document pushbacks occurring at multiple crossing points, including Barpeta, Karimganj, Cooch Behar, Malda, Nadia, and Dhubri.
These border areas have long-standing demographic, linguistic and familial ties with communities across the border in Bangladesh. The populations targeted for expulsion are overwhelmingly drawn from poor, Bengali-speaking Muslim and Adivasi communities who face structural disadvantages, limited access to legal representation, and low levels of documentary literacy.
A critical legal anomaly compounds the problem with the Border Security Force (BSF), the primary agency conducting these pushbacks, has no statutory authority to determine citizenship or nationality status. Under Indian law, citizenship determination falls exclusively within the jurisdiction of civil authorities, Foreigners Tribunals, and appellate bodies established under the Foreigners Act, 1946. The absence of due process, judicial oversight, and nationality verification prior to expulsion transforms what should be a legal determination into an arbitrary executive action by a border force operating outside its lawful mandate.
Recent reporting by The Indian Express in January 2026 documented additional cases in which families from Odisha and West Bengal were subjected to summary expulsion despite possessing land records and multiple forms of citizenship-linked documentation. In several instances, Bangladeshi authorities declined to accept the expelled individuals, citing lack of verification or mismatched paperwork, leaving them stranded across the border. These cases illuminate the complex cross-border family networks that characterize the region, the administrative uncertainty surrounding expulsions and the severe humanitarian consequences of a pushback regime operating without procedural safeguards.
