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Bangladesh says India pushes back 1,200 people
A demonstrator gestures as protesters clash with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the police outside the state-owned Bangladesh Television as violence erupts across the country after anti-quota protests by students, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 19, 2024. PHOTO:REUTERS
Bangladesh said on Wednesday that neighbouring India has pushed more than 1,270 people across its border in the past month, mainly Bangladeshis, but also Indian citizens and Rohingya refugees.
Bangladesh, largely encircled by land by India, has seen relations with New Delhi turn icy since a mass uprising toppled Dhaka's previous government last year.
"Between May 7 and June 3, Indian authorities pushed in 1,272 individuals, including a few Indian citizens and Rohingya, through 19 bordering districts", Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) officials said.
"Only yesterday, they pushed 50 individuals."
India's Hindu nationalist government has often described undocumented immigrants as "Muslim infiltrators", accusing them of posing a security threat.
India has not commented on the recent returns across their shared border.
Bangladeshi Jahidul Molla, 21, said he was among those sent back, saying he had been living in India's western state of Gujarat since he was 14.
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