Amid reports of “push-in” incidents across the India-Bangladesh border, New Delhi has stated that anyone residing illegally in India — whether Bangladeshi or otherwise — will be dealt with according to the law.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, confirmed the matter at a weekly press briefing on Thursday, according to Indian news outlet Scroll.in.
Jaiswal said, “We have a large number of Bangladeshi nationals here who need to be deported.” He added that India has requested Bangladesh to verify their nationality and is prepared to repatriate over 2,360 Bangladeshi citizens currently residing in India.
Many of these individuals have already served prison sentences in India, but their deportation has been delayed due to the suspension of nationality verification procedures since 2020.
Jaiswal urged the Bangladeshi authorities to expedite the verification process so that those requiring deportation can be returned to Bangladesh.
On May 8, Bangladesh’s border guards reported detaining at least 123 individuals, stating that India had forcibly sent them into Bangladesh without any documentation.
Among those detained were both Rohingyas and Bengali-speaking individuals.
Indian news outlet Scroll.in reported that an Indian police official partially confirmed the incident, acknowledging that “some people sent from India were detained by Bangladesh,” though he could not specify how many.
Two days later, on May 10, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government was directly deporting Rohingya and other “illegal infiltrators” without filing legal cases.
Meanwhile, India’s Uttar Pradesh claimed to have detained 90 Bangladeshi nationals. However, Bangladesh responded by saying that three of those who were forcibly pushed in were actually Indian nationals.
Gujarat police denied this allegation, stating that no such incident had occurred.
Faisal Mahmud, Press Minister at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, said, “We have yet to confirm the identity of those who entered Bangladesh without following any legal or governmental procedures”.
