Indian authorities have forcibly expelled ‘ethnic Bengali’ residents, mostly Muslims from West Bengal, to Bangladesh without due process, leaving many families stranded along the border, according to a report released by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday.
The rights watchdog has alleged that India’s Border Security Force has been pushing people across the border while Border Guard Bangladesh has refused entry to those whose Bangladeshi nationality could not be verified, leading to dozens of families being trapped in the ‘zero line’ between the two countries.
‘Indian authorities are cruelly dumping families into Bangladesh or leaving them stranded at the border, ignoring their basic human rights,’ HRW deputy Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly was quoted as saying in the report released from London.
She urged India to halt unlawful expulsions, ensure procedural safeguards and cooperate with Bangladeshi authorities to verify citizenship claims.
Bangladesh home minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Wednesday told the Jatiya Sangsad that the BGB had so far foiled 36 attempts by BSF to push people into Bangladesh following the political changeover in West Bengal in early May.
Meanwhile, nine people, including women and children, who became victims of an attempted push-in by the BSF at the Roumari border in Kurigram were still staying in no man’s land for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday.
Citing Bangladeshi border authorities, HRW report said that since June 1, BGB had foiled 21 attempts by the BSF to push more than 200 people, including children, into various border districts of Bangladesh.
The report said the incidents occurred amid a crackdown in West Bengal under the newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party government.
West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari reportedly said authorities had detained hundreds of alleged ‘Bangladeshi infiltrators’ and compelled nearly 5,000 people to ‘go back’ under a policy described as ‘detect, delete and deport.’
HRW, a nonprofit organisation headquartered in New York City, said it interviewed nine witnesses, who described BSF personnel bringing groups of people to the border at night and forcing them through gaps in border fencing into Bangladeshi territory.
HRW linked the incidents to a controversial voter list revision ahead of West Bengal’s March elections, which reportedly removed more than nine million names from electoral rolls.
The organisation said exclusion from voter lists had become a basis for detention, arrest and expulsion in some cases.
The report also referred to Assam, where a citizenship verification exercise in 2019 left more than 1.9 million people without recognised citizenship status.
It further alleged that some detainees had been stripped of identity documents, money and personal belongings before being taken to the border.
Bangladeshi authorities have repeatedly stated that they will not accept individuals pushed across the border outside established legal procedures and insist that all returns must follow proper nationality verification mechanisms.
HRW said India was bound by international human rights treaties that prohibit arbitrary deprivation of citizenship and require due process before detention or expulsion.
The rights group called on both India and Bangladesh to ensure that border management practices respect human dignity and prevent people from being trapped between the two countries.
Responding to a query in parliament, home minister Salahuddin said that 2,369 people were pushed across the border by the BSF between August 5, 2024 and June 17, 2026.
Out of these individuals, 2,175 were handed over to local police stations, 11 were returned to the BSF, and 183 were pushed back.
He added that an additional 2,860 people were formally received through flag meetings between May and November 2025 and handed over to local police.
BGB 35 Battalion in Jamalpur commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Hasanur Rahman on Wednesday said that the nine people were still in the zero line inside Indian Territory in uncertainty as no solution was reached even after a flag meeting between the BGB and BSF, New Age correspondent in Kurigram reported.
