Since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won two-thirds of the seats in West Bengal's assembly elections earlier this month, migrants have been fearful.
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The India-Bangladesh border is currently crowded with migrants trying to return to Bangladesh from India's West Bengal. Shirpendu Pati, a police officer at the Swaroopnagar police station in India, about 10 kilometers from the Bangladesh border, said there had been a stream of people since Tuesday. "People have been coming here since yesterday, saying they are Bangladeshi citizens and want to return home," Pati told AFP. Indian police said the number of people fleeing has increased after the government ordered the construction of detention centers for undocumented Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingya refugees.
Pati said about 200 people had arrived near the border on Tuesday and 40 early on Wednesday. "We have put them all in a holding center to verify their identities and complete the necessary paperwork," he said. Pati also said they would be handed over to India's Border Security Force (BSF) and sent to Bangladesh.
“The local administration is meeting all their needs, including food, water and shelter,” Pati added.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won two-thirds of the seats in West Bengal’s assembly elections earlier this month. In the election campaign, the BJP had floated a tough policy of “detect, remove and deport” migrants.
India’s right-wingers have long argued that illegal migration is a threat to national security. They have been saying that people are sneaking into India from Bangladesh.
The government led by West Bengal’s newly appointed Chief Minister Subedu Adhikari last week ordered the establishment of holding centers (temporary camps) for detained foreigners, targeting both Bangladeshis and Rohingya.
The decision has raised concerns among West Bengal’s 35 million Muslims, who share linguistic and cultural ties with neighboring Bangladesh.
Top BJP leaders have previously called Bangladeshi immigrants “scoundrels” and “infiltrators” in their opposition to them. Critics allege that the BJP’s rhetoric and policies have made India’s nearly 200 million Muslims uncomfortable.
Critics allege that the party is trying to malign Muslims by linking their religious identity to illegal migration.
The BJP’s policies have raised particular concerns in West Bengal, where the country has a porous border with Bangladesh and a long history of migration.
Relations between India and Muslim-majority Bangladesh have been strained since the 2024 revolution in Dhaka ended the authoritarian rule of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a ally of New Delhi. Hasina is currently in exile in India.
