NEW DELHI: India has deported without trial to Bangladesh hundreds of people, officials from both sides said, drawing condemnation from activists and lawyers who call the recent expulsions illegal and based on ethnic profiling.
New Delhi says the people deported are undocumented migrants.
The Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has long taken a hard-line stance on immigration – particularly those from neighboring Muslim-majority Bangladesh – with top officials referring to them as “termites” and “infiltrators.”
It has also sparked fear among India’s estimated 200 million Muslims, especially among speakers of Bengali, a widely spoken language in both eastern India and Bangladesh.
“Muslims, particularly from the eastern part of the country, are terrified,” said veteran Indian rights activist Harsh Mander.
