The reported deportation of nearly 5,000 undocumented Bangladeshi nationals from India’s West Bengal state, bordering Bangladesh, has become the first major test of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) promise to “locate, remove and deport” following its landslide election victory in the state last month.
Just weeks after the vote, officials ordered districts to set up holding centers for undocumented Bangladeshis and ethnic minority Rohingyas awaiting verification and deportation.
According to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, around 4,800 people have already been sent across the border, while another 836 people are in custody.
Illegal immigration from neighboring Bangladesh has long been one of the most powerful political issues in eastern India for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP.
BJP leaders argue that decades of uncontrolled migration have changed demography, distorted voter rolls, strained welfare resources and created security concerns.
India’s Home Minister Amit Shah said, “The Government of India has decided that we will not only stop infiltration, but will also find each and every infiltrator and send them out of the country.”
Shah said the government would make the borders of Bangladesh and Pakistan “impenetrable” in what he called a “conspiracy to change the demography of the country”.
Border issue fuels political fight
More than half of India’s 4,000 kilometers (2,500 mi) border with Bangladesh passes through West Bengal. For years, BJP leaders accused the previous All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of turning a blind eye to illegal migration for electoral gains.
The BJP’s electoral victory in West Bengal gave it control of the last major stretch of the India-Bangladesh border that was not already governed by a BJP administration – providing an opportunity to turn a long-running political campaign into government policy.
“My parents were born here, my grandparents were born here, and yet people are afraid that one day they might have to prove it,” Nasreen Begum, a housewife from West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, told DW. “That uncertainty is what worries people the most.”
Most BJP supporters, especially in border districts, see this action as evidence that the government is fulfilling one of its central promises. The opposition sees something else.
“Deportation cannot be hostage to communal politics. Due procedures must be followed and verification must take place. And above all, the rights of citizens must be respected,” TMC MLA Sagarika Ghosh told DW. “The process should be legal, not political.”
Critics argue that immigration has become a powerful electoral tool in a state where questions of identity, citizenship and belonging have shaped politics for decades.
Deportation increases tensions with Bangladesh
Neighboring Bangladesh has objected to efforts to send people across the border without completing the verification process.
Last month, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry had written to the Indian government, calling these push-ins “unacceptable” and saying it would “only accept persons confirmed as Bangladeshi citizens and sent back through proper channels.”
Rights groups and Bangladeshi officials argue that the pushback circumvents some of those safeguards, with people being removed before their nationality can be established. Dhaka has repeatedly stressed that anyone returning to Bangladesh must first be confirmed as a Bangladeshi citizen.
“This is another avoidable bilateral irritant,” said Sriradha Dutta, a Bangladesh expert at the Jindal School of International Affairs.
“If India had wanted a cooperative solution, it would have worked closely with Bangladesh on verification and repatriation,” he told DW. “When deportations become a public spectacle rather than a coordinated process, they risk creating diplomatic friction and undermining trust between the two countries.”
Citizenship questions give rise to controversy
However, the most controversial question is whether all those being deported are actually Bangladeshi citizens.
Human rights groups have repeatedly warned that previous campaigns against alleged undocumented migrants in eastern India have disproportionately affected Indian citizens, especially Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Prominent human rights activist Harsh Mander said, “The question is not whether a country has the right to deport undocumented migrants.” “The question is whether those being deported are identified fairly, given due process and protected from wrongful removal.”
“Without those safeguards, the risk of wrongful expulsion increases exponentially,” Maunder told DW. He cautioned that when the burden of proving citizenship falls on poor and marginalized communities, the risk of grave injustice becomes very real.
more than just immigration
The debate in West Bengal is no longer just about illegal immigration. It has become a dispute over citizenship, identity, due process, and responsibilities of the state.
For the BJP, the deportation represents a resolution on an issue that has yielded significant political gains. For Bangladesh, they risk becoming another source of friction in an already fragile relationship.
The deportation campaign may have fulfilled a campaign promise. But it has reopened one of the most sensitive questions in Indian politics – who gets to be involved, and who gets to decide.
Edited by: Keith Walker