Sunali Khatun was pushed to Bangladesh despite being Indian, says Mamata Banerjee

Sunali Khatun, a pregnant woman who was deported to Bangladesh along with her eight-year-old son, was pushed back to Bangladesh by the Border Security Force (BSF) despite being an Indian citizen, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday, December 3, 2025. Ms. Banerjee also alleged that the Trinamool Congress was struggling to bring her back home.

“How are Indian citizens labeled as Bangladeshi? Was Sonali Khatun Bangladeshi? She was Indian. Even though she was Indian [documents] You targeted the BJP-led Center and pushed it to Bangladesh by the Border Security Force,” the Prime Minister said during a rally at Gazole college ground in Malda on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.

He claimed that although the Supreme Court decided to bring him back, it was his party that took Hatun Hanım’s case to court and fought for her return.

Hours before Ms. Banerjee’s speech, the Union Government agreed to bring back Ms. Khatun and her infant son from Bangladesh on “humanitarian grounds” following intervention by the Supreme Court.

In July this year, a pregnant Ms Khatun was found to be among a group of six migrants from Birbhum district of West Bengal who were taken from Delhi and forcibly deported to Bangladesh. In a video message, one of the members of this group appealed to the Chief Minister of West Bengal to repatriate them. There were three young children in the group.

Earlier this year, a large number of migrant workers from West Bengal were being detained in different parts of the country and pushed to Bangladesh on suspicion of being Bangladeshi. In his speech on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, the Prime Minister spoke about the attack on Bengali-speaking migrant workers and raised questions on why people in Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh or Maharashtra are being “tortured” for speaking Bengali.

“After a long wait, justice has finally prevailed. The Central Government agreed to bring back pregnant Sunali Khatun and her young son on humanitarian grounds. Sunali Khatun was illegally deported to Bangladesh just because she spoke Bengali and her ordeal across the border is a striking example of why the BJP is being called Bangla-Birodhi (anti-Bengali) Zamindars,” said Samirul Islam, Trinamool MP and Chairman of the State’s Migrant Workers Welfare Board. On Wednesday, December 3, 2025 at X.

In his social media post, Mr. Islam highlighted the Supreme Court’s observation that Ms. Khatun’s biological father was an Indian citizen who had not been deported.

“Court [said]…There is no basis for labeling Sunali as Bangladeshi. According to Indian law, Sunali is automatically a citizen of India as her father is Indian and therefore her son is also a citizen of India,” said the Trinamool MP.