Bengali Muslim Expulsions in India
- Human Rights Research Center
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Author: Erina Bazán López
June 24, 2026
HRRC urges all political actors in India to stop exploiting religious identity for electoral gain, reject dehumanizing narratives unsupported by historical evidence, and uphold the dignity and fundamental rights of the Bengali Muslim community, whose labor has defined the Bengal delta for centuries.
In May 2026, a controversial citizenship crackdown in India’s border states reached a critical juncture when politicians announced that the forced expulsions of Muslim residents from the region had been successful. The government’s "detect, delete and deport" policy has since become the focal point of intense international scrutiny as hundreds of Bengali Muslims have been forcibly taken to the border or placed in detainment centers. Unlike standard legal deportation, these "push-ins" often occur at night, with security forces forcing families across the barbed-wire fence into Bangladeshi territory without verification of nationality. While the government frames these measures as a matter of "national security," human rights organizations have highlighted a sharp rise in discrimination, arbitrary detention, and the use of inflammatory rhetoric that characterizes Muslims as "outsiders" who "are not of the nation."
This 2026 crackdown is the latest chapter in a decades-old campaign of weaponising citizenship laws in India. By excluding millions from electoral rolls and utilizing quasi-judicial Foreigners Tribunals, the Indian government has created a climate of pervasive fear. Authorities have also weaponised forest and colonial-era land laws to evict at least 50,000 people, mostly Muslims, from their homes. These tactics also target impoverished migrant workers in sectors like construction and masonry, often ignoring valid biometric identity documents such as Aadhaar cards—an official form of ID issued on a voluntary basis to any resident of India.
The current crisis is fueled by persistent narratives that often contradict the documented reality. One of the most persistent lies is that all targeted individuals are recent "illegal infiltrators" from Bangladesh. However, many have lived in India for generations; some families include members who have voted in multiple previous elections and possess official Indian biometric IDs.
Other critics claim that the "express" expulsion process strengthens national security. However, international rights groups have documented that authorities frequently bypass legal mechanisms, refusing to accept citizenship claims, tearing up identity papers, and forcing people across the border at gunpoint. National security procedures are still subject to international human rights laws.
Additionally, there are viral hoaxes that claim migrants are leaving voluntarily. However, many if not most of these people are coerced through harassment, arbitrary detention, and the demolition of thousands of homes and businesses without notice.
To understand why this policy is so destructive, it is crucial to recognize that the Bengali Muslim community is not a modern "foreign" influx – as some individuals trying to defend these expulsions claim – but is central to the history of the region. The rise of the Bengali Muslim cultivator class can be traced to the 16th century. Under Mughal rule, forest pioneers (often pirs or holy men) received land grants to clear the Eastern Delta for rice cultivation. Unlike the urban ashraf elite who claimed foreign descent, rural Bengali Muslim tradition emerged through a slow evolution of cultural practices tied to the axe and the plough. For these "natives," cultivation was seen as the natural, God-given destiny of man.
Historically, the region was not sharply divided; Hindu and Muslim communities often cooperated and coexisted. The community's identity is inextricably tied to the land they transformed into arable fields over centuries.
Glossary
Arable - fit for or used for the growing of crops.
Arbitrary detention - the arrest and deprivation of liberty of a person outside of the confines of nationally recognized laws or international standards.
Ashraf - Arabic, plural of shārīf, “nobleman”.
Bengal delta - two Himalayan rivers, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, which drain to the bay of Bengal as a combined river, carry the largest sediment load.
Biometric - the measurement and analysis of unique physical or behavioral characteristics (such as fingerprint or voice patterns) especially as a means of verifying personal identity.
Cultivator - one that cultivates (prepare and use for the raising of crops).
Detention Centers - a place where people who have entered a country illegally are kept for a period of time: a place where people who have committed crimes are kept as punishment.
Dehumanising - depriving someone of human qualities, personality, or dignity : demeaning or damaging to a person's humanity or individuality.
Deportation - an act or instance of deporting.
Electoral rolls - an official list of all the people who have the right to vote in an election.
Exploit - to make use of meanly or unfairly for one's own advantage.
Expulsion - the act of expelling : the state of being expelled.
Foreigners Tribunals - legal bodies in some countries, such as India, tasked with determining the citizenship status of individuals. They adjudicate cases where a person's citizenship is disputed or challenged, often due to concerns about illegal immigration. These tribunals have the authority to verify citizenship documents and make decisions regarding an individual's nationality.
Inextricably - incapable of being disentangled or untied.
Infiltrators - a person who secretly becomes part of a group in order to get information or to influence the way the group thinks or behaves.
Inflammatory - tending to excite anger, disorder, or tumult.
Mughal - a Muslim Indian, Mongol, or Mongolian.
National security - the measures and strategies employed by a nation to protect its citizens, institutions, and interests from both internal and external threats.
Pervasive - existing in or spreading through every part of something.
Pirs - a Muslim spiritual guide or saint in India or Pakistan.
Push-ins - when one state intentionally funnels, transports, or coerces migrants across the border into a neighboring country.
Quasi-judicial - having a partly judicial character by possession of the right to hold hearings on and conduct investigations into disputed claims and alleged infractions of rules and regulations and to make decisions in the general manner of courts.
Rhetoric - a type or mode of language or speech.
