‘We too suffered in Delhi & Dhaka, won’t we return home?’: Pushed to Bangladesh, Sweety bibi, her children count days in despair

“Won’t we return? No one will take us back? My two sons went through the same trauma and nightmare as Sunali and her son. But they got back home and we are still here. How long can we stay like this?” Sweety told The Indian Express over the phone.

After spending nearly three months in jail since August 21, Sweety, her children, and Danish received bail from a Chapainawabganj district court on December 1. Since then, they have been living in the house of one Faruk Sheikh, entrusted with their responsibility by the court. Sunali and her son had also received bail on December 1.

“Nearly six months have passed. For three months, we were in jail. Like Sunali, we were also detained in Delhi and then pushed out from the Assam border. Like her, we too spent time in the bushes at the border and tried to return. We spent days on the streets of Dhaka and were arrested by police. We all want to go home. We appeal to everyone for help. For now, we are fine at Faruk Sheikh’s house, but how long can we live here? The court case is also on,” said Sweety, who worked as a ragpicker in Delhi before her detention.

“My two children are with me here. The younger one is not well, has a high fever. As days pass, we lose hope of our return. What will be the future of my children here? What about their education?” she added. Meanwhile, Faruk Sheikh, in whose house the four are staying, said, “I am a small businessman. I am taking care of them. But it is difficult for me to continue this for months.”

Speaking over the phone, Danish Sheikh said, “What can I say? My wife and children have returned. But no one took me back. Imagine my condition.”

“The matter will be heard in the Supreme Court on December 12. We are hopeful that the court will give an order for them to be brought back,” said Mofizul Islam, a Birbhum-based social worker who assisted the families in Bangladesh and is presently back in Bengal.

Advocate Shofiq Enaetullah of the Chapainawabganj district court, who is representing both families, said, “It all now depends on the Indian government. The court is sympathetic and granted bail on humanitarian grounds. In my opinion, this is unequal treatment. In the eyes of the law, all six persons are accused under the same crime and booked under the Passport Act and Foreigners Act.”

“We have brought back Sunali and her son, and we will bring back the others through legal means. We will appeal to the court,” said Samirul Islam, chairman of the West Bengal Migrant Labourer Welfare Board and TMC Rajya Sabha MP.

On June 18, Sunali, her husband Danish, and their eight-year-old son from Paikar village in Birbhum were detained in Delhi along with Sweety and her two sons from Dhitora village in Birbhum. On June 26, all six of them were “pushed back” to Bangladesh after being declared illegal immigrants. They had been picked up by Delhi Police under the K N Katju Marg police station jurisdiction.

On August 21, the group was arrested in Chapainawabganj under the Passport Act and Foreigners Act. The next month, on September 26, a division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Ritabrata Kumar Mitra directed that both families be brought back to West Bengal within four weeks.

On October 3, the senior judicial magistrate of the Chapainawabganj district court declared both families Indian citizens based on their Aadhaar cards and Bengal addresses, ordering their “pushback” to India.