Delhi (Delhi) [India], December 5 (HBTV): A pregnant woman from West Bengal and her eight-year-old son who were pushed into Bangladesh by authorities on claims that they were undocumented immigrants were brought back to India on Friday.
The woman, Sunali Khatun, and her son, Sabir, entered West Bengal through the Mahadipur border crossing, according to a report by The Times of India. They were taken to a hospital in Malda for medical tests to determine whether she can travel to their home in Birbhum, about 180 km away.
Khatun’s husband, Danish Sk, remains in Bangladesh.
On Wednesday, the Union government told the Supreme Court that Khatun and her son would be brought back to India on humanitarian grounds but ‘without prejudice to New Delhi’s contentions on merits and our right to put them under surveillance’.
This statement came two days after the court, taking note of Khatun’s advanced pregnancy, asked the Centre whether the mother and child could be returned to India.
Khatun, her son and her husband were released on bail in Bangladesh on Monday evening. Another family — Sweety Bibi and her two sons — was also released. They had been arrested on August 21 for illegal entry after allegedly being pushed into Bangladesh by Indian authorities in June.
The families were released from Chapainawabganj jail at about 7.30 pm after spending more than three months in custody. Their release followed a local court order granting them bail on humanitarian grounds. A Bangladeshi citizen stood surety and furnished a bail bond of 5,000 taka.
The Chapainawabganj court noted that the group included a pregnant woman and children and granted bail with the condition that they remain in Bangladesh and appear before the court when required.
Khatun, Sweety Bibi and their families have maintained that they hail from West Bengal’s Birbhum district. Khatun, her husband and son were taken into custody in Delhi on June 20 and sent to Bangladesh six days later.
On September 26, the Calcutta High Court set aside the deportation order against the six persons and directed that they be brought back to West Bengal within four weeks. The order was passed on a petition by Khatun’s father, Bhodu Sekh.
Two days before the deadline ended, the Union government challenged the order in the Supreme Court, with the Centre and the Delhi Police questioning whether the High Court had jurisdiction to hear the case.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court directed the West Bengal government to provide free medical facilities to Khatun and ensure care for her son.
During the proceedings, advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal government, urged the court to instruct the Union government to repatriate the other four persons who had been deported. However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that they were Bangladeshi nationals and said the Union government had a ‘serious contest’.
The bench observed that if Khatun could establish a biological link with Bhodu Sekh, who is an Indian citizen, she could also establish her Indian citizenship, Live Law reported.
The Supreme Court will hear the case again on December 12.
Since May, thousands of Bengali-speaking migrant workers have been rounded up in several Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states and asked to prove that they are Indian citizens and not undocumented immigrants. In multiple instances, workers have been declared foreigners within days and forced into Bangladesh despite claiming Indian citizenship.
(Scroll.in)