The All Bodoland Territorial Council Minority Students’ Union (ABMSU) on Wednesday staged a protest in Guwahati against the overall system of detecting and detaining illegal foreigners staying in Assam, alleging that Indian citizens are being pushed back “under the guise of foreigner identification”.

The student organisation also moved Gauhati High Court over the “harassment” being meted out in the name of identifying, detaining and pushing back illegal foreigners/immigrants.

The ABMSU members came from the five districts of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) and assembled at the protest site at Chachal by 10.30am.

They raised slogans during the three-hour-long protest seeking a halt to the harassment meted out in the name of foreigner detection and also displayed placards. Among them were messages such as “Halt arbitrary detentions in Assam”, “Ensure Indian citizens are not rendered stateless” and “Don’t make Assam Muslims stateless”.

They also flagged the issue of “inhuman evictions” in Assam.

This is the second protest held by the ABMSU this month.

The organisation also submitted a memorandum to chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma “in response to the growing humanitarian and constitutional crisis unfolding across Assam, particularly targeting the minority Muslim community” while seeking immediate redressal.

ABMSU president Taison Hussain said they are seeking an “immediate halt to the unlawful harassment, arbitrary detention, and illegal pushbacks” in the name of detection of illegal foreigners.

Hussain claimed that 16 persons were picked up from the Bodoland Territorial Council area, of whom the whereabouts of 14 are still unknown.

“We came to know from Gauhati High Court on Tuesday that two of them are in a police holding camp in Kokrajhar. The court has allowed the petitioner and family members to meet those detained. We feel that pushback to no-man’s land between India and Bangladesh is throwing out Indian citizens by the Centre and the state government. The case on detained persons will come up for hearing on Wednesday,”
Hussain said.

He also said three persons, who were picked up by the police from their homes and “pushed back”, had returned home, raising a lot of questions about the pushback policy.

The ABMSU memorandum said: “Recent instances of detention and pushbacks have raised concerns about rendering Indian citizens stateless. We request the immediate cessation of these actions and urge that proper procedures under the Foreigners Act, 1946, and allied judicial safeguards be
strictly followed.”

The ABMSU has also demanded the issuance of national identity cards to persons whose names are included in the NRC, and also initiation of the process of appeal for those excluded from the National Register of Citizens. Though the NRC published in 2019 excluded 19-plus lakh applicants, it is yet to be notified. The ABMSU also sought a halt to “selective, inhuman and arbitrary” eviction drives and rehabilitation of those evicted.

Hussain said they also moved Gauhati High Court on the “arbitrary detention” of suspected foreigners and “illegal pushback” without “following” due procedures.

The ABMSU had initially moved the Supreme Court in May, but it had asked the students’ organisation on June 2 to approach the high court.

CM reaction

Hours after the ABMSU protest, Sarma posted on X: “For far too long have illegal infiltrators gone scot free. WE ARE TOLERATING IT NO MORE. We have begun intensified operations against illegal infiltrators and in the last 1 month, in Cachar district alone, we have pushed back 88 Bangladeshis and Rohingyas back to Bangladesh.”

The Assam government has been in the headlines since May over its policy of pushing back illegal foreigners to neighbouring Bangladesh.