'If I have a son, I will name him Deshprem': Sunali says it will be an honour if CM Mamata Banerjee chooses name
Times of India | 7 December 2025
KOLKATA/BIRBHUM/MALDA: "If I have a son, I will name him Deshprem, but it will be an honour if CM Mamata Banerjee chooses a name for my yet-to-be born child, be it a son or daughter," said Sunali Khatun, hours after she was admitted to Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital on Saturday. The 26-year-old, who was brought back from Bangladesh along with her eight-year-old son on Friday evening, was resolute about one thing though: "I will never go to Delhi again."
After spending the night at Malda Medical College, Sunali returned to her home in Birbhum's Paikar on Saturday. During a short stay at the village, she was unable to even step out of the ambulance to enter the house as a teeming crowd of women showered petals on her. Her daughter, six-year-old Anisha, who had been separated from her mother for the past six months, couldn't stop hugging her.
Sunali's eyes welled up as she spotted a Tricolour in the crowd. "I am relieved to be back in my country. But I am worried about my husband and Sweety and her sons who are still in Bangladesh. I will be very happy if they are able to return soon," she told waiting newspersons.
"Even the police in Bangladesh were good. They gave me whatever I needed. But Delhi police tortured me. They refused to hear my pleas that I am an Indian," Sunali said.
State to bear Sunali's medical costs, extend benefits of social schemes
Unaccustomed to a hundred cameras and cellphones recording her every move and the crowd around her chanting "we want justice", Sunali appeared unnerved at times but responded to every question thrown at her with a quiet confidence. "I am thankful to Mamata didi (CM Mamata Banerjee), Abhishek da (TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee) and Samirul bhai (TMC MP Samirul Islam). Without them, I would never have seen today," she stressed.
Sunali, husband Danish and Sweety Bibi were earning their living as ragpickers in Delhi, when they were picked up by cops on the suspicion of being illegal Bangladeshi immigrants on June 17 and pushed into Bangladesh within 10 days.
Later, Sunali, who is over nine months pregnant, was driven to Rampurhat Medical College Hospital escorted by a police convoy and a Bengal govt medical team. Samirul, also Bengal Migrant Welfare Board chairperson, said, "As per the Supreme Court order, the state govt will extend all medical help to her free of cost. We are taking her to Rampurhat hospital and will do whatever doctors say. Next, Sunali will be given all social scheme benefits available in Bengal so that she does not have to look for work outside the state. This has been a long fight (to get her back). We hope her husband and Sweety Bibi and her two children are also released soon."
On Friday night, Sunali had an emotional reunion with father Bhodu Sk, who had reached Malda Medical College with an ambulance to bring her home. "I had my child and my grandson in my arms. My tears just didn't stop. I couldn't speak," the relieved father said.
"It is all because of Mamata didi, Abhishek da and Samirul bhai that we got Sunali back. If they hadn't stood by us how could poor people like us have fought cases in the high court and Supreme Court," said Bhodu who used to drive a rickshaw. His son is now a Toto operator. He added that he was still worried about his son-in-law and the others who are stranded in Bangladesh. "When will they be released? I was born in Birbhum, so were my children, even my son-in-law. Then why call us Bangladeshi?"