KOLKATA: Pregnant Sunali Khatun and her eight-year-old son Sabir finally returned to India on Friday evening after spending more than six months in Bangladesh. However, four others from the group of six Bengali-speaking Indians, who were pushed back to Bangladesh by the Delhi Police on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals, continue to remain in the neighbouring country.
All six are members of the same family and hail from Birbhum district in West Bengal.
Sunali and her son crossed the India-Bangladesh border in Malda district amid tight security arrangements by the Border Security Force (BSF). They were taken to a local BSF camp for official formalities in the presence of senior administrative officials and later shifted to Malda Medical College and Hospital for comprehensive health check-ups.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam told TNIE, “Sunali and her son have been taken to Malda Medical College and Hospital for their health check-ups.
They will return to their village Paikar in Murarai, Birbhum, on Saturday. We demand that the Bangladesh government immediately repatriate the remaining four individuals.”
Calling it a “historic moment” in an X post, Islam said the episode exposed the “torture and atrocities inflicted on poor Bengalis.”
He added, “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.”
He further alleged that despite the Supreme Court’s clear order, the Centre “failed to take any action over the past two days to ensure their immediate return,” forcing their advocates to raise the issue once again before the court. “Only then was the return finally made possible,” he said.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the West Bengal government to provide free medical care to Sunali, who is in an advanced stage of pregnancy, after the Centre informed the bench that it would bring her and Sabir back to India “purely on humanitarian grounds”.
The court also said that the well-being of eight-year-old Sabir would be the responsibility of the Bengal government.
On a request from Sanjay Hegde, counsel for Sunali’s father Bhodu Sekh of Birbhum, the court agreed that she should receive medical treatment in West Bengal rather than Delhi.
The hearing pertained to the Centre’s appeal challenging a September 26 Calcutta High Court order directing the government to bring back Sunali, her husband Danish Sekh, their son Sabir, and three others who were deported to Bangladesh in June on allegations of being infiltrators.
The high court had observed that they were deported without a proper inquiry or an opportunity to be heard, violating their fundamental rights.
The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also orally suggested that Sunali’s citizenship could be verified based on her father Bhodu’s citizenship documents.
In its order, the Supreme Court noted, “Pursuant to the observations made on the previous date of hearing, Tushar Mehta, learned Solicitor General of India, on instructions, informs that purely on humanitarian grounds, the Government of India has agreed to bring back Sunali Khatun, D/o Bhodu Sekh, along with her eight-year-old son, Sabir.”
The verdict, which came two days after the deportees were granted bail by a Bangladesh court brought relief and joy to the family in Birbhum. Bhodu Sekh said he was elated after hearing the Supreme Court order and that his worries would finally end with his daughter’s return home.
