Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday asserted that suspected “illegal immigrants” could be deported to Bangladesh even if their names appear in the National Register of Citizens (NRC), while announcing 19 illegal immigrants were pushed back on Tuesday.
Emphasizing that the process will continue in Assam, the Chief Minister said that around nine people would likely be pushed back on Wednesday, adding, “Whether or not a person’s name is in the NRC, if we have reasonable grounds to believe someone is an illegal immigrant, we will push them back immediately.”
“Many names were manipulatively and cleverly included in the NRC,” he said, alleging that “People from different districts are bringing others from separate districts and falsely claiming father-son reunifications.”
Raising concerns about the way the NRC process was conducted, Sarma said, “Many names were manipulatively and cleverly included in the NRC,” casting serious doubts on its credibility.
“Certainly, there were setbacks from both sides, but those manipulating the system were exceptionally clever in deceiving our people,”he said.
He noted that “Harsh Mander, a person from Delhi, stayed in Assam for two years,” he said referring to the well-known human rights activist and former bureaucrat, who has been involved in various advocacy efforts related to the NRC and the treatment of minorities in Assam.
He further alleged that several youths had been taken to the United States and the United Kingdom to learn how to “manipulate” the NRC, claiming that the government had been completely unaware of what he described as a “conspiracy” and never thought it would be so significant.”
Therefore, he asserted that “Personally, I am not convinced that the presence of a name in the NRC alone is enough to determine that someone is not an illegal immigrant.”
Reacting to this Harsh Mander said, “Assam CM said in assembly he would put me in jail for my work for justice for people of contested citizenship,” asserting that he is proud of our efforts for release of “those locked indefinitely in inhuman conditions in detention centres.”
“If this is a crime Mr CM by all means take action against me,” he said.
Assam published a National Register of Citizens in August 2019 with the aim of separating Indian citizens from undocumented immigrants living in the state. Residents had to prove that they or their ancestors had entered Assam before midnight on March 24, 1971, in order for them to be included in the list.
More than 19 lakh persons, or 5.77% of the applicants, were left out of the final list.
In October, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the 1955 Citizenship Act, a provision introduced following the 1985 Assam Accord between the Union government and leaders of the Assam Movement. Section 6A permits foreigners who entered Assam between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971, to apply for Indian citizenship.
However, indigenous groups in Assam have criticised the provision, alleging that it effectively legalised the infiltration of migrants from Bangladesh.
On May 31, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed that the state was “pushing back” to Bangladesh individuals declared as foreigners by the state’s Foreigners Tribunals, quasi-judicial bodies tasked with determining citizenship. However, these tribunals have faced criticism for alleged arbitrariness and bias, with people reportedly declared foreigners due to minor spelling errors, missing documents, or lapses in memory.
On Monday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government had “pushed back” 303 “foreigners” and would continue deportations under the 1950 Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act.
Sarma’s statement came amid a spike in detentions of declared foreigners in Assam since May 23. Several families have claimed they are unaware of their detained relatives’ whereabouts, with some identifying them in videos from Bangladesh and alleging they were forcibly deported.
Sarma said the pushbacks were being conducted in line with Supreme Court directives issued in February. On February 4, the court had ordered the Assam government to begin deporting foreign nationals held in detention centres immediately.
Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia has raised serious concerns over Assam’s recent “pushback” of alleged undocumented migrants to Bangladesh, alleging that the move disproportionately targets Muslim communities and undermines India’s secular fabric.
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