Dhaka, July 25 -- The Indian government should stop unlawfully deporting people without due process and ensure everyone's access to procedural safeguards to protect against arbitrary detention and expulsion, said Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday.

The New York-based rights body said Indian authorities have expelled hundreds of ethnic Bengali Muslims to Bangladesh in recent weeks without due process, claiming they are "illegal immigrants" and many of them are Indian citizens from states bordering Bangladesh.

"India's ruling BJP is fueling discrimination by arbitrarily expelling Bengali Muslims from the country, including Indian citizens," said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"The authorities' claims that they are...