Two Assam women allegedly pushed out of India towards Bangladesh brought back

Two Bengali-origin Muslim women from Assam, who were allegedly forced into the no man’s land between India and Bangladesh by the Border Security Force, have returned to their homes.

One of them, Shona Bhanu, a 59-year-old resident of Barpeta district, was dropped on the highway around 11 pm on Saturday, 120 km from her home, her brother Ashraf Ali told Scroll.

The second woman, Rahima Begum, from Upper Assam’s Golaghat district, was brought home by the police on Friday night, her family said. Only three months ago, Begum had got a favourable ruling from the foreigners’ tribunals, her lawyer said.

On Friday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had admitted that Assam has been “pushing” back to Bangladesh persons who have been declared foreigners by the state’s foreigners tribunals.

Foreigner tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies unique to Assam, which rule on citizenship cases. They have been accused of arbitrariness and bias, and declaring people foreigners on the basis of minor errors in documents.

As Scroll has reported, at least three of these expelled from Indian territory, including Bhanu, have their cases pending in the Supreme Court.

Neither the Border Security Force nor the Assam police have explained why the two women have returned. Scroll sent questions to BSF and police officials. The story will be updated if they respond.

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