The implementation of India's Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) has been continuing to stir controversy across the subcontinent, with loopholes in the act leading to the forced displacement of hundreds of Bengali Muslims, who have been pushed into Bangladesh amid intensifying tensions.
The CAA was passed on December 12, 2019, amending Section 2(1)(b) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. This act allows Indian citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim immigrants including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who entered India before December 31, 2014.
However, the CAA remains silent when it comes to Muslims, standing in stark contrast with Article 14 of the Indian Constitution, which states that all the citizens are equal before the law.
The Act also fails to clearly explain who is targeted or why they individuals are treated differently.
In this regard, former Supreme Court Judge Justice Madan B Lokur said in a 2020 seminar that the CAA "fails the twin tests of intelligible differentia and rational nexus," which is essential criteria set out in State of West Bengal v. Anwar Ali Sarkar (1952 AIR 75) for permissible classification under Article 14.
Both 'intelligible differentia' and 'rational nexus' are legal terms. The former means the law should clearly explain why it treats people or groups differently while the latter means there should be a logical reason or connection between different treatment and the purpose of the law, according to the Black Law Dictionary.
According to Article 6 (Schedule III) of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, for those six religious from the three specified countries, the residency requirement is reduced to just 5 years. In the past, under the Citizenship Act of 1955, eligibility for citizenship by naturalisation required 11 years of residency in India.
National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (2014) is one of the most crucial cases in India. The CAA overlooks the Supreme Court's landmark judgment focused on the right to self-identity and equal protection irrespective of background or identity. The Court cited international human rights standards, including the Yogyakarta Principles.
Yet, the Indian government maintains that the CAA is not meant to affect Indian citizens and is intended solely to regularise refugees who fled religious persecution. At the same time, critics point out that in the absence of a clear refugee law in India, the act sets a dangerous precedent of selective naturalization without judicial review.
Over 1.9 million residents in Assam , many of them Muslims, were declared non-citizens through the process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in 2019.
The Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) has frequently denied entry to these individuals, asserting that many of them cannot prove Bangladeshi citizenship, resulting in de facto statelessness.
Although India has not signed the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, the "non-refoulement" principle remains applicable to all states.
India's push back is a potential violation of the principle of non-refoulement, a norm of customary international law that prohibits a country from returning refugees or asylum seekers to a place where they would face persecution, torture, or other inhumane treatment.
Since May 2025, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has intensified operations to push back Muslims to Bangladesh, ignoring formal legal procedures. India's expulsions violate the secular and equality principles of the Indian Constitution under Article 14 and 15.
Supreme Court Lawyer and Human Rights expert Hasnat Quaiyum told Dhaka Stream that the government should stop unlawfully deporting people without due process, sidestepping rights to procedural safeguards that protect against arbitrary detention and expulsion.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Indian government has provided no official data on the number of people expelled, but Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has reported that India expelled more than 1,500 Muslim men, women, and children to Bangladesh between May 7 and June 15, including about 100 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
Such expulsions continue.
Research highlights violations of bilateral protocols
According to a research, titled 'Humanitarian Aspects along the Indo-Bangladesh Border', conducted by Calcutta Research Group in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross, neither Bangladesh nor India have the right to violate bilateral protocols.
It said India must adhere to established agreements such as the 1975 Joint Guidelines and the 2011 Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP), which require joint verification, and bilateral coordination before any deportation or return.
In May, the Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Interim Government Touhid Hossain said that ''We generally do not carry out pushbacks. However, those who are proven to be Indian citizens must be taken back."
He added that Bangladesh is maintaining communication with Delhi and trying to ensure that nothing happens outside the rules.
"Several minor agreements and memoranda of understanding have been signed over time. According to those agreements, they must be cancelled with mutual consent, or there may be provisions allowing cancellation if one party objects. We haven't canceled any of them. We actually want everything to move forward according to the rules. We've asked India to follow proper procedures, but have yet to receive a response. Meanwhile, the push-ins continue," he said.
On May 8, the foreign ministry sent a letter to India's external affairs ministry, urging compliance with the established repatriation mechanisms. The ministry warned that illegal push-ins could undermine border security and fuel anti-India sentiment.
Bangladesh has not received any official repatriation requests supported by documentation.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on July 26 said that people are being pushed to Bangladesh despite having valid papers.
"In all the double-engine governments, that is BJP-ruled states …Bengalis are being oppressed on the orders of the home ministry," she said.
"Those who work in those states have been working there for 20-25 years. They have all the legal documents. Despite this, they are being kept in detention camps and being taken to police stations."
Director General of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui said that they had ID cards issued there.
"We are informing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNHCR that this is a blatant human rights violation. Refugees should remain in the country where they were registered," he said.
Former chairman of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Dhaka, Dr Saber Ahmed Chowdhury, told Dhaka Stream that since August 5, relations between India and Bangladesh have become strained.
"The recent push-back actions by India appear to prioritise a specific group, which raises serious concerns globally," he said. This move, led by the BJP, seems aimed at consolidating support among Hindu communities, which is a sharp strategy that could help into electoral gains.
Saber emphasised that pushing back hundreds of Muslims is clearly a diplomatic and strategic action to portray the Bangladeshi government as weak or ineffective.
Constitutional expert and Professor of Law at Jahangirnagar University, Md Rabiul Islam, told Dhaka Stream that Section 2(1)(b) should be amended to include "all persons fleeing persecution", regardless of religion.
"Establishing an independent citizenship tribunal is urgently required to allow individuals to present their cases relating to natural justice principles."
According to BGB data, from May 7 to 31, a total of 1,222 people were forcibly pushed into Bangladesh. The most, 132, were pushed in through Khagrachhari, 100 from Sylhet and over 40 from Feni, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Meherpur, Jhenaidah and the Sundarbans Mandarbaria forest area.
Indian Border Security Force (BSF) has pushed-in 18 people; including seven women, into Bangladesh on Tuesday (July 30) through three separate borders in Meherpur's Gangni and Daulatpur upazilas, according to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) officials.
Supreme Court Lawyer Sayed Ahmed told Dhaka Stream that since the interim government took office, tensions with India have given rise to a new and troubling challenge along the border.
"As tensions mount regarding the border and legal challenges in India, the future of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act remains uncertain," he said.
In many cases, people, who are pushing back to Bangladesh, do not even get a chance to present their claims, which are decided ex parte, i.e. in their absence. Between 1985 and February 2019, 63,959 people were declared foreigners through such proceedings.
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