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New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Assam pushed back 330 ‘foreigners', says CM Himanta Sarma
GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday informed the Assembly that the state had pushed back 330 illegal immigrants over the past few months. 'We have pushed back nearly 330 people, and none have returned. This exercise will be intensified,' he said during a special one-day session. He added that the government must be more active and proactive to safeguard Assam in light of the infiltration of 'Pakistani elements and Bangladeshi fundamentalists' into the state. 'The state government has decided to enforce the Illegal Expulsion Act of 1950. People identified as foreigners by the district commissioners (DCs) will be expelled without referring their cases to the Foreigners' Tribunal,' Sarma explained. Sarma said a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court had recently ruled that the Illegal Expulsion Act is in force and the government can proceed under its provisions. The minority-based opposition party, the All India United Democratic Front, recently petitioned Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, protesting what it described as 'continued' harassment of Indian Muslims under the guise of apprehending 'so-called illegal foreigners' in Assam.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Himanta Biswa Sarma invokes 1950 law to fast-track deportation, bypassing foreigners tribunal
Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that for identification of illegal immigrants it does not require to go the foreigner's tribunal and Supreme Court in one of its orders has stated that Immigration expulsion order is still in force and as per this law Deputy Commissioner can immediately order push back of illegal immigrant. Sarma while talking to media people said, 'The constitutional bench of Supreme Court while hearing the 6A of the citizenship Amendment Act has stated that it is not always necessary for the Assam government for deportation of foreigners to go to the foreigner's tribunal. The Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Order, 1950 — is an old law and the Supreme Court has stated that this law is still in force.' He added, 'As per the law, the Deputy Commissioner can order expulsion of foreigners. We did not know about this provision and our lawyers had not informed us about this provision.' He added, 'The whole thing will be discussed. Push back will continue and identification of foreigners which was on halt due to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) update will now gain momentum and the process will be expedited . The moment one is identified we will not send the same to foreigners' tribunal we will push them back.' Sarma had recently said that only declared foreigners are being pushed back as per the law. Live Events A video had emerged in the 'no man's land' along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam's South Salmara Mankachar district, Where Khairul Islam's claimed that he is an Indian national and being deported to Bangladesh. Islam was among nine persons arrested by Morigaon police on May 24 in a crackdown on illegal immigrants declared by the Foreigners' Tribunal, but who had been avoiding deportation. Sarma had said, 'In meeting with SPs in Dergaon we have decided that we will fast track the process of detection of foreigners'. Islam was declared a foreigner by the Foreigners Tribunal in 2016, a decision he challenged in the Gauhati High Court. The High Court upheld the FT's ruling, leading to his detention in 2018. Family members of Islam said that appeal against the FT decision is pending before the Supreme Court.
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Assam pushback row: CM defends action as legal, saikia flags rights violations and judicial breach
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that only declared foreigners are being pushed back as per the law.A video has emerged in the 'no man's land' along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam's South Salmara Mankachar district, Where Khairul Islam's claimed that he is an Indian national and being deported to Bangladesh. Islam was among nine persons arrested by Morigaon police on May 24 in a crackdown on illegal immigrants declared by the Foreigners' Tribunal, but who had been avoiding on Friday said, 'The Supreme court has directed us declared foreign nationals must be sent back. Declared foreigners who did not appeal in the court we had been pushed back. On Thursday we apprehended 35 Bangladeshi nationals along the Meghalaya and Silchar border. They came some days back and we instantly pushed them back.'He added, 'In meeting with SPs in Dergaon we have decided that we will fast track the process of detection of foreigners. As the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process was underway, detection of foreigners was temporarily suspended. So in the days to come detection will take place, push back will be done and the government of India after talks with the Bangladesh government will send some foreigners. So these three ways will continue.'Chief minister said, 'Whoever has not gone to higher judiciary despite being declared a foreigner, and not preferred appeal against the tribunal order, they must go. We have 30,000 people who despite being declared foreigners have disappeared, if we find somewhere we have to take action against them. Whatever is done is as per law.'Islam was declared a foreigner by the Foreigners Tribunal in 2016, a decision he challenged in the Gauhati High Court. The High Court upheld the FT's ruling, leading to his detention in members of Islam said that appeal against the FT decision is pending before the Supreme Saikia, Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, has written to External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar expressing grave concern over the Assam Government 's ongoing detention and forced pushback of alleged illegal his letter dated 30th May Saikia highlighted several serious violations of constitutional rights and due process in what is being termed as Assam's 'push back drive.'The letter details that since 23rd May 2025, Assam Police have arbitrarily detained hundreds of Indian citizens not involved in any citizenship-related legal proceedings. While most detainees were eventually released, their wrongful apprehension itself points to serious procedural lapses. Families remain uninformed about the whereabouts of detainees, violating basic transparency norms. Media reports confirm that many detainees, including women, have been forcibly pushed into the no-man's-land at the India-Bangladesh border, leaving them stateless as Bangladesh refuses to accept reminded the EAM that this action directly contradicts India's stated position on deportation, quoting Dr. Jaishankar's own parliamentary statement that emphasized the necessity of 'unambiguous verification of nationality' before any repatriation. The letter notes with concern that these operations appear to target Muslim communities, undermining India's secular fabric. It also points out that several cases are still pending before the Supreme Court, making these detentions and pushbacks a clear violation of the judicial has urgently appealed for central intervention to immediately halt these unconstitutional actions, ensure proper nationality verification before any deportation, release all wrongly detained Indian citizens, and make detainee information publicly stressed that pushing people in the no-man's-land without proper legal procedure is both illegal and fundamentally inhumane. Saikia said ,'Pushing Indian citizens into no-man's-land without verification is unconstitutional and fundamentally inhumane. The repatriation during the pendency of a Supreme Court case constitutes a grave breach of the judicial process. This further violates international human rights standards."
