Eighteen Bangladeshis pushed back from Assam without legal process, says CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati: Eighteen Bangladeshis, living without valid documents in Assam, were pushed back Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

He said the pushbacks were done from the Cachar and Sribhumi districts.

“Oh look who's going back to their home? In Assam, we welcome guests with open arms but those trying to illegally prolong their stay are treated with the special gesture of PUSHBACK,” Sarma said in a post on X.


Sarma earlier said, “Our push back is a daily affair, we spot them in the zero line engage Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) that they are about to cross so intercept. This system is now being institutionalised.”

The chief minister said infiltration is a big issue. “Now we have decided that we will not go through the legal process. Earlier system was to arrest a person and bring him to the Indian legal system. You have seen the number of infiltrations as the communication has increased. Earlier also we used to arrest 1000 or 1500 foreigners, they must be in some jail, and they were produced in some court of law.”

He added, “Now we decided we will not bring them inside the country, we will push them back. Pushing them back is the new phenomena, that is why more numbers are heard. Otherwise, the numbers are almost the same every year, 4000 to 5000 people try to enter. Owing to this push back the number is minimised now. Pushing back is innovation.”