Reports from Assam’s Nagaon district describe repeated forced deportations of Bengali-origin Muslims to Bangladesh. A 31-year-old resident, Hasan Ali, told media outlet The Scroll that his father, 58-year-old farmer Taher Ali, was pushed across the border three times in eight months after being declared a ‘foreigner’ by Assam’s Foreigners Tribunal. The tribunal, which has stripped thousands of residents of citizenship, often issued unilateral rulings without hearing the accused. Since May last year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam has allegedly bypassed legal deportation procedures, using the 1950 law to expel declared foreigners at gunpoint during the night.

Bangladesh has refused to accept these individuals, leaving many trapped in a cycle of pushback and return. At least seven residents were reportedly forced across the border in December, only to be denied entry and later detained by Bangladeshi authorities. Legal experts and observers told The Scroll that Assam’s policy violates both constitutional and international norms. An Oxford researcher described the situation as the creation of statelessness, with people being treated like ‘tennis balls’ between two nations.

The Indian Border Security Force and Home Ministry did not respond to inquiries about the legality or nationality verification process behind these expulsions.