Declared foreigners are being pushed back to Bangladesh as per SC directives: Indian minister
The minister said that the police weren’t targeting those who have documents to show that their cases were pending in courts or they have got stay orders
India's chief minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday that persons with origins in Bangladesh who have been declared foreign nationals by tribunals in the state are being pushed back to the neighbouring country as per directives of the Supreme Court and the process would continue.
"There are two types of intruders. Those who have entered recently or are trying to enter India, and those who have been staying here for many years and have been declared as foreign nationals by tribunals. Unless they have stay orders from courts or have challenged the orders of the tribunals claiming to be Indians, the government is bound to push them back to Bangladesh as per directions given by the Supreme Court," he said, an apparent reference to the top court's February 4 direction to expedite deportation of 270 persons who have been held to be foreigners.
Sarma said that the police weren't targeting those who have documents to show that their cases were pending in courts or they have got stay orders.
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"It's all about the judicial process. There could be some who may claim that their cases are pending in courts or they have stay orders, but if they can't produce documents of the same, they are bound to be pushed back," the chief minister said.
Sarma's remarks come against the backdrop of 14 people being pushed from Assam to the no man's land along the Indo-Bangla border in recent days.
Citing official records, Sarma said 30,000 persons have been declared as foreign nationals by tribunals in Assam over the years but they had gone missing.
On Friday, India's Supreme Court agreed to hear on June 2 a plea of a 26-year-old man claiming his mother was illegally detained by Assam Police amid widespread allegations of people being quietly pushed into Bangladesh.
On Thursday, the Gauhati High Court issued notice to the Assam government directing it to provide details on the whereabouts of two brothers, declared foreigners by a tribunal, and on the "arbitrary arrest of declared foreigners who are apprehending illegal push back".
The court has posted the next date of hearing on June 4.
