In a significant move, the state of Assam has called upon the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, marking its first use since the state cabinet's approval earlier this year. The Sonitpur district administration has issued orders for five individuals—four women and one man, declared as foreigners by a tribunal in 2024—to vacate India within 24 hours. However, these individuals are currently untraceable, with police labeling them as "absconding," while locals assert they left the area over ten years ago.
Enacted on March 1, 1950, the Immigrants Expulsion from Assam Act (IEAA) was a response to the Assam government's demand for a structured approach to manage the influx of migrants from East Pakistan following Partition. The rapid migration had become a pressing political and demographic issue within the state.
Given that citizenship is a matter under the Union's purview, the Central government took the initiative to draft the Act while delegating specific powers to Assam. Originally dubbed the Undesirable Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, it was clear about its purpose. Amid post-Partition turmoil, the Act made specific exceptions for refugees, ensuring those displaced due to "civil disturbances" in Pakistan were not subjected to expulsion.
The Act endowed the Centre with the authority to command any individual, typically residing outside India, who entered Assam either before or after 1950, and whose stay was considered "detrimental" to India's general public or any Scheduled Tribe in Assam, to leave Assam or India within a designated timeframe and via a specified route. It also empowered officials from both the Union and Assam governments to execute these expulsion orders.
The application of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, was brief, encountering both practical and political hurdles almost immediately. During its drafting, communal violence in Lower Assam led to a mass exodus of 40,000 to 100,000 Muslims to East Pakistan. This event complicated the identification of "immigrants" as many affected were originally residents of Assam, particularly Bengali Muslims.
The period coincided with the signing of the Nehru–Liaquat Pact in April 1950, which was intended to protect minorities in both India and Pakistan. Concerns from Pakistan's PM Liaquat Ali Khan about Assam's expulsion orders further complicated matters. Just two days after the pact, on April 10, 1950, Nehru instructed Assam's then CM Gopinath Bordoloi to cease all actions under the IEAA, emphasizing the importance of minority safety and peace restoration.
Historical records indicate that only a few hundred individuals were affected by the Act before its implementation was suspended.
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