In Barpeta district, Assam, 28 Bengali Muslims were detained and taken to a transit camp on September 2 after being declared foreigners by the Foreigner Tribunals.
Emotional and tense scenes unfolded as families wept while their loved ones were forced onto a police bus. The distressing atmosphere drew a crowd, witnessing the heart-wrenching moment.
Each of the detainees, one from 28 families, was summoned to local police stations under the pretense of signing documents but were instead transported to the transit camp in Goalpara district, 50 kilometers away.
In Assam's Barpeta district, 28 Muslims have been sent to a detention camp, including 9 women and 19 men.
This is happening under the rule of BJP govt 👇pic.twitter.com/M8dQe9cHvh
— Dhruv Rathee (Parody) (@dhruvrahtee) September 3, 2024
The Foreigner Tribunals, quasi-judicial bodies under the Foreigners Act of 1946, had deemed these individuals as foreigners.
According to a recent Assam Home Department report to the state Assembly, the state has 1,19,570 D-voters, with 54,411 declared foreigners. Since 2017, 16 such individuals have been deported to Bangladesh. D-voters, designated by the Election Commission in 1997, are barred from voting.
The Foreigner Tribunals were established to tackle illegal migration, a contentious issue in Assam, where fears about protecting the indigenous Assamese identity run deep.