Nearly 6 months after ‘illegal deportation’, pregnant Sunali, her son return to India from B’desh

Malda: After nearly six months of uncertainty, legal battles and emotional turmoil, 26-year-old Sunali Khatun and her eight-year-old son were brought back to India on Friday evening through the Mahadipur international land border in Malda district.

Their return came days after the Supreme Court directed the Centre to consider her repatriation on humanitarian grounds, noting on Monday that she was nine months pregnant and could go into labour at any moment.

Sunali, her son and her husband were picked up from Delhi in June and pushed across the border to Bangladesh, where authorities arrested them for “illegal entry.” The Calcutta High Court later termed the deportation “illegal,” sparking a political storm in West Bengal.

On Friday, deputy high commissioners from both India and Bangladesh were present at Mahadipur to coordinate the handover along with BSF and BGB personnel. Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders from Malda, including Lipika Ghosh Barman and Prasenjit Das, were also on the ground.

After crossing into India, Sunali was taken to Matrima, Malda Medical College and Hospital for a check-up. Following a thorough check-up by a team of specialists, CMOH Sudipta Bhaduri stated: “Her condition is stable. However, she will be under observation in the Malda Medical College and Hospital as her blood count is low.”

Speaking to reporters, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam, who has been leading the legal fight, called the moment “historic” and a “victory against injustice.”

“Finally, after a long battle against the Bangla-Birodhi Zamindars, this poor woman and her minor son have

come back to their own homeland,” he said. “Her suffering has exposed the torture and atrocities inflicted on innocent Bengalis simply because they speak Bangla,” he added.

Islam alleged that despite a clear Supreme Court order, the Centre took no steps for two days to facilitate Sonali’s return, forcing their legal team to mention the matter again before the apex court on Friday morning. “The anti-poor Central government failed to act even after the direction. Only when we mentioned

the matter again today did

they finally initiate the process,” he said, thanking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for their support.

Lipika Ghosh Barman, Sabhadhipati of Malda Zilla Parishad, who was present at the border, questioned why four others remain in Bangladesh even though the Supreme Court had also ordered their repatriation. “I asked the deputy high commissioner why her husband and three others of Birbhum have not been brought back. He gave me no reply,” she alleged.

Sunali’s husband remains in Bangladesh custody as the Centre has questioned his citizenship. The government has maintained before the Supreme Court that the others deported with her are “Bangladeshi nationals,” a claim contested by their families and the West Bengal government. Islam said documentary evidence exists proving their Indian citizenship, including land records from 1952 and inclusion of family names in SIR lists.

He reiterated that accountability must be fixed. “Just because someone speaks Bengali, you cannot drag them from Delhi and throw them into Bangladesh. Those officers who carried out this illegal deportation must face action,” he said.

Minister Shashi Panja said the state government stood by the family throughout. “Despite being ordered by the Supreme Court, the BJP-led Central Government was reluctant. We had to again draw the attention of the apex court that the order was not being complied with,” she said, adding that Sonali’s family had thanked the state for its support. “We wish to tell the people of India what BJP is like and show them its cruel face,” Panja said.

A habeas corpus petition was filed by Sunali’s father before a Calcutta High Court division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra on July 8. After multiple hearings, the bench quashed the FRRO order and directed that the family be brought back, noting procedural lapses in their deportation. The Centre was given four weeks. The order was challenged before the Supreme Court, where a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on Monday suggested that Sonali and her son be brought back and that she be kept under hospital surveillance. On Wednesday, the Centre agreed on humanitarian grounds.

For now, Sonali’s return marks a significant step in an ongoing legal and humanitarian battle, as her family and supporters hope the Centre will move to bring back the four others still in Bangladesh.

After her return, Sonali Khatun said: “I am relieved to be back in India, but my husband is still in Bangladesh. I am doing fine now, but it would have been better if he could have come too.”