Pushed to Bangladesh, Bengal residents Sunali, son brought back to India after 5 months

Malda (WB), Dec 5 (PTI) It was finally homecoming for 26-year-old Birbhum resident Sunali Khatun and her son Sabir who, after spending 103 days in a Bangladeshi prison as alleged "infiltrators", was repatriated to India though the Malda border in north Bengal on Friday evening following a Supreme Court direction to the Centre to bring her back, officials said.

No clarity was, however, received on when the four other deportees, who continue to remain in Bangladesh and whose repatriation has also been ordered by the Supreme Court, would be brought back.

An official said that Sunali, in her advanced stage of pregnancy, was handed over to an officer of the rank of deputy high commissioner around 7 pm from where the duo was first taken to the BSF camp at Mehedipur for formalities, and later moved to the Malda Medical College and Hospital for medical tests.

She would be transported her residence at the Dorjee Para area of Paikar village in Murarai in Birbhum district on Saturday if doctors certified her fit to travel, he added.

Picked up by the Katju Nagar police in Delhi on June 18 from the Bengali Basti in Sector 26, Rohini -- where she lived for over two decades and worked as a ragpicker and waste collector -- on suspicion of being a Bangladeshi national, Sunali, along with her husband Danesh and her son, were subsequently pushed to Bangladesh following orders from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO).

The deportation also included another family from the same Birbhum village -- Sweety Bibi and her two sons, Qurban Sheikh (16) and Imam Dewan (6).

All six were detained at the Chapai Nawabgunj correctional facility in Bangladesh from August 20 as alleged "infiltrators" until a judicial magistrate granted bail to the detainees on December 1 on a bond of Tk 5,000 each.

The Union government had challenged a Calcutta High Court division bench order passed on September 26 -- which directed the Centre to facilitate the return of Sunali and five other migrant workers from Bengal and set a four-week deadline to execute the order -- before the Supreme Court.

The West Bengal government also filed a contempt petition before the apex court against the Centre for defying the high court's directive.

During hearings, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi criticised the Centre for allegedly deporting individuals without due process.

The bench flagged "ample evidence" on record -- including 1952 land deeds of the deported families, 2002 electoral rolls listing listing Sunali's parents as voters of Murarai assembly constituency, Aadhaar and PAN details and birth certificates of the children -- which contradicted police claims of her illegal entry in 1998, when Sunali was not yet born.

The court emphasised that the authorities can push back illegal immigrants but not before ascertaining their citizenship. "If someone says they were born in India, grew up here, they have rights. Their version must be heard," the bench observed.

On December 3, the Centre submitted it would bring back Sunali and her minor son "on humanitarian grounds".

"Finally, after a long battle against the Bangla-Birodhi Zamindars, Sunali Khatun and her minor son have returned to India. This day will be remembered as a historic moment that exposes the torture and atrocities inflicted on poor Bengalis. Sunali, who was pregnant at the time, was forcibly deported in June this year. After enduring six months of unimaginable suffering, she and her child have at last returned to their homeland," Samirul Islam, TMC MP, wrote on X.

It must also be stated that despite the Supreme Court's order, the "anti-poor" central government failed to take any action over the past two days to ensure their immediate return, he claimed.

"As a result, our advocates were compelled to mention the matter once again before the Supreme Court today. Only then was the return finally made possible," Islam said, while thanking his party leadership for their support for the deported families.

Lipika Burman Ghosh, Sabhadhipati of Malda Zilla Parishad, who was present at the border at the time of Sunali's repatriation, questioned why four others still remained stuck in Bangladesh when the top court had also ordered their repatriation.

"I asked the deputy high commissioner who was present here to receive Sunali and her child why her husband and three others of Birbhum have not been brought back. He gave me no reply," she alleged. PTI SMY NN