India: Citizenship — the CAA, the NRC, Detention and Expulsion

Summary

Across Assam and West Bengal, eviction drives, voter-roll purges and border pushbacks have stripped Bengali Muslims of homes, votes and, HRW says, due process, as elections turn on "illegal migrant" rhetoric.

What it argues

1. Elections and 'illegal migrants'

   Assam CM Sarma, PM Modi and Amit Shah centred 2026 campaigning on "illegal migrants" and "encroachers". Delimitation cut Muslim-majority constituencies from roughly 35 to about 22-29 since 2021. BJP's manifesto promises tighter enforcement of the 1950 Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act. Citizenship rhetoric and redrawn boundaries have reshaped Assam's Muslim-dominated politics.

2. Bengal's voter purge

   West Bengal's special intensive revision deleted over nine million names before the April 2026 polls. Analysts found Muslims disproportionately deleted in Murshidabad, Malda and North 24 Parganas. Banerjee accused the Election Commission of favouring the BJP; a BJP leader denies targeting Muslims. The roll revision became the defining issue of West Bengal's election, overtaking governance.

3. Bengal's 'deport' policy

   After the BJP won West Bengal in March 2026, CM Suvendu Adhikari launched a "detect, delete, deport" policy. He says hundreds have been detained and nearly 5,000 people forced "to go back" to Bangladesh. Power in West Bengal has been used to turn voter deletions directly into expulsions.

4. Tribunals, due process denied

   Since 1964, Assam's Foreigners Tribunals have ruled on citizenship, often ex parte; the 2019 NRC excluded 1.9 million people. HRW says pushbacks into Bangladesh skip hearings, legal access and verification, breaching the ICCPR and children's rights. The Supreme Court barred disputed West Bengal voters from the April vote while tribunals could not clear the backlog in time. Citizenship machinery and border enforcement alike leave little chance to contest a decision.

5. Courts limit, then allow, evictions

   The Supreme Court ruled in November 2025 that punitive "bulldozer justice" demolitions are illegal. A February 2026 ruling let Assam evict reserve-forest settlers but required notice and case-by-case review. Residents say they got a day's notice or less, and no rehabilitation followed. Court safeguards on eviction exist on paper but are often ignored on the ground.

6. Homes lost to eviction

   Over 20,000 families were displaced by Assam eviction drives between 2021 and 2026. Goalpara families now live under tarpaulin without power, water or toilets, months after demolition. Thousands of Muslim families remain homeless despite holding valid identity documents.

7. Gendered burden of proof

   Experts say women are disproportionately deleted from voter rolls over nicknames, post-marriage name changes and translation errors. Researchers say the state demands consistent documents it never reliably issued to residents. Women and the poor bear the heaviest cost of citizenship-verification drives.

8. Livelihoods and quotas cut off

   Evicted residents such as Abul Kalam saw daily income fall to zero, with losses reaching about Rs 10 lakh. BJP-run states rounded up Bengali Muslim migrant workers as suspected Bangladeshis, disrupting their jobs. West Bengal removed several Muslim castes from its OBC list, closing off government-job reservations. Citizenship suspicion has destroyed livelihoods and closed off economic opportunity alike.