West Bengal Mother-Son Duo, Pushed Over Border, Back In India After 5 Months
The Supreme Court recently ordered the Centre to bring back the mother-son duo on “humanitarian grounds” after their Indian citizenship was found valid during a verification in a legal battle contested by the Trinamul Congress government.
Kolkata: Sunali Khatun, a 26-year-old pregnant woman from Birbhum in West Bengal, and her son Sabir (8) have returned to India from Bangladesh five months after they were detained from a slum by Katju Nagar police in New Delhi and were pushed across the border along with four other family members on the mere suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals, based on their mother tongue.
At around 7 pm on Friday, the mother-son duo walked across the Indo-Bangla border in Malda of North Bengal and were received by an official of the ministry of external affairs. Sunali was taken to Mehedipur BSF camp from where she was rushed to Malda Medical College and Hospital for a medical test in view of an advanced stage of her pregnancy.
The Supreme Court recently ordered the Centre to bring back the mother-son duo on “humanitarian grounds” after their Indian citizenship was found valid during a verification in a legal battle contested by the Trinamul Congress government.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP and West Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Board chairman Samirul Islam posted on X-handle, “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.”
He stated, “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. It must also be stated that despite the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s clear order, the anti-poor central government failed to take any action over the past two days to ensure their immediate return.”
Mr Islam added, “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. I sincerely thank everyone who supported this poor Indian citizen in her struggle to come back home.”
