NEW DELHI: Human Rights Watch said Thursday that India has forced hundreds of Muslims who speak Bengali into Bangladesh without following the proper procedures, accusing the government of breaking the law and fostering religious prejudice.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government has long had a strict stance against immigration, especially from Bangladesh, a country with a majority of Muslims. Top officials have called these immigrants “termites” and “infiltrators.”
The government is also accused by critics of inciting fear among the 200 million Muslims who live in India, particularly among Bengali speakers, who are widely spoken in Bangladesh and eastern India.
According to Bangladeshi authorities cited by HRW, a nonprofit organization based in New York, India forcibly ejected around 1,500 Muslim men, women, and children to Bangladesh between May 7 and June 15.
