Pregnant woman among other migrants languish in Bangladesh even after Calcutta High Court order; Trinamool points fingers at Centre

Four weeks after the Calcutta High Court ordered the repatriation of six migrant workers pushed to Bangladesh, the workers, including pregnant Sunali Bibi and five others, continue to languish in the foreign country. The Trinamool Congress leadership has once again blamed the Union government for the plight of the workers and its failure to bring them back.

West Bengal Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Minister Shashi Panja accused the central government of the Bharatiya Janta Party of violating the Calcutta High Court order passed on September 26.

Ms. Panja also said on Friday, October 24, “The deportation was wrong. Who put up the fight? Trinamool Congress… The central government did not take a single step to bring them back… They continued to label the six people as Bangladeshis, so they remained in Bangladesh.”

Samirul Islam, Chairman of the Migrant Workers Welfare Board in West Bengal, said that the Bangladesh Court had found that these six people were not Bangladeshi citizens and had asked for arrangements to be made for their repatriation to India.

“The BJP-led Union Government has forgotten to abide by the law and the constitution. They have not even worked on the mandatory order passed by the Calcutta High Court and are allowing a pregnant woman to suffer,” Islam said. Hindu on Friday. He also added that they were unable to establish proper communication channels with the six migrant workers and were finding it difficult to get updates on their health status. Mr. Islam said that according to the latest information, Sunali Bibi has not given birth to her child yet.

This was in reaction to the Calcutta High Court’s September 26 order asking the authorities to take all steps to bring back the emaciated migrants. The order stated, “…mandatory directions are given to take all necessary steps to bring back Sunali, Danish and Sabir to India within 4 weeks from the date of notification of the order.”

A Division Bench comprising Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Reetobrata Mitra gave this order based on a writ petition filed by Bhodu Sheikh and Amir Khan, relatives of six migrants pushed back to Bangladesh.

Sunali Bibi’s 8-month pregnancy in August also increased concerns. Her father, Mr. Sheikh, expressed concerns that if his grandson Sunali was born in Bangladesh, he would not be able to claim any Indian citizenship if his grandson was also born in Bangladesh.

Mr. Sheikh asked, “If my grandson is born in Bangladesh, what will be his nationality?” he asked.

Sunali Bibi, her husband, the Sheikh of Denmark, and their 8-year-old child were part of the group of six people who were detained in Delhi months ago and pushed to Bangladesh. The group also included Sweety Bibi and her two young sons.

Before this, there were several cases of migrant workers allegedly being pushed into Bangladesh by security agencies. A few of them were repatriated after the families approached the Calcutta High Court.