The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Rajasthan, on Thursday condemned the forced expulsion of 148 Bengali-speaking Muslims from the state, calling the operation a violation of constitutional and international law. The group alleged that the individuals were wrongly branded as “Bangladeshi citizens” and forcibly transported to the India-Bangladesh border for expulsion without due legal process.
PUCL said the mass removal was carried out in the wake of the recent Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir, and accused authorities of scapegoating a vulnerable community to deflect attention from failures in national security and intelligence.
According to PUCL, individuals from the Sikar and Kotputli districts were picked up by Rajasthan police, handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) in Jodhpur, and transported by air to the international border in West Bengal for what the group described as an “unlawful pushback.”
The rights group cited a May 10 public statement by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who claimed credit for a similar expulsion of 30 to 40 alleged illegal Bangladeshi migrants. PUCL criticised this approach as an “unconstitutional and illegal shift” that bypasses judicial procedures traditionally followed in deportation cases.
PUCL posed a direct challenge to Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, asking whether he endorsed such extrajudicial measures. The group warned that adopting such practices could place state authorities in violation of the Indian Constitution and the Supreme Court’s rulings on the rights of non-citizens.
Citing the 1996 Supreme Court ruling in State of Arunachal Pradesh v. Union of India, PUCL emphasised that all persons in India, regardless of citizenship, are guaranteed the right to life and equality before the law. The group also referred to India’s obligations under international law, which prohibit collective expulsions without legal recourse.
“The government must answer why, after the Pahalgam attack, instead of probing lapses in security, it has chosen to divert attention by unlawfully targeting minority communities,” PUCL said, adding that it has documented procedural violations in six detention centres in Rajasthan and has helped secure the release of several wrongly held individuals.
In January, PUCL had also condemned the deportation of 385 Indian citizens from the U.S. in shackles, calling it a human rights violation. The group said it maintains the same standard for India’s treatment of foreign nationals and migrant workers.
PUCL demanded a halt to the expulsions and called for each detainee’s legal rights to be upheld, including access to legal aid and fair hearings. “All actions of the state must be in full compliance with constitutional norms and international legal obligations,” the group concluded.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com.