Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi said the issue of alleged Bangladeshi nationals in Assam should be settled through bilateral talks with Bangladesh, not through what he called pushback drama. The statement is relevant because it shifts attention from political rhetoric to the legal and diplomatic framework required for deportation or expulsion.

The comment responds to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's earlier emphasis on intensifying pushbacks, including the use of a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and the revived Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950. The dispute is important for UPSC because it links immigration, internal security, federal roles, and India-Bangladesh relations.

What happened

Akhil Gogoi criticised the continuing handling of the immigration issue in Assam and said the state has kept the matter politically active without creating a legal mechanism for deportation. He said the current pushback approach has political optics but lacks legal validity, and that a proper agreement between India and Bangladesh is needed to handle detained persons lawfully.

Background and earlier position

The Assam government had earlier signalled a stronger pushback approach and referred to a revived legal framework under the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950. That law is historically associated with special powers relating to expulsion from Assam, but the present political debate is over whether a state-led pushback can operate as a lawful substitute for a deportation process coordinated with the Union government and Bangladesh.

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