Biswanath, Dec 21: Two women, who were declared foreigners by a Foreigners’ Tribunal in Assam’s Biswanath district, have been directed to leave the state within 24 hours, with the deadline expiring on Sunday.
One of the women has been identified as Asamul Khatun, also known as Asmal Begum, a resident of Mishamari under Helem police station and wife of one Md Ayub Ali.
The other is Afuja Begum, also known as Arfuja Begum, from Bokrapatta under Chatiya police station and wife of one Jabed Ali.
The expulsion order was issued by the Biswanath District Commissioner under the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 on Saturday.
The directive instructed the two women to remove themselves from the territory of Assam, India, within 24 hours of receiving the order, using the Dhubri, Sribhumi or South Salmara–Mankachar route.
Officials said both women are currently lodged at the detention camp in Goalpara. The order stated that, having been declared foreign nationals, their continued presence in Assam was considered detrimental to public interest and the internal security of the state.
The notice warned that failure to comply within the stipulated time would invite coercive action, with the government empowered to remove them from Assam under the provisions of the Act.
The development comes days after the Nagaon district administration, on December 18, issued similar expulsion orders against 15 individuals declared foreigners by different Foreigners’ Tribunals after they failed to establish Indian citizenship.
Those individuals were residents of villages under police stations including Raha, Kaliabor, Samaguri and Rupahi.
Earlier in September, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that more than 30,000 illegal immigrants had been pushed back from Assam so far.
“We have pushed back almost 30,000 foreigners by now. The pushback data has reached 30,120,” Sarma said during a press briefing in Guwahati.
The Chief Minister, however, clarified that the figure was cumulative and did not pertain to any specific timeframe.
Earlier, on August 30, the state government had reported that expulsions under the newly adopted pushback policy had already crossed 450.
While Sarma did not specify the sectors involved, officials said a majority of the pushbacks in recent months were carried out through Assam’s Sribhumi district, which shares a border with Bangladesh.