‘Acted in hot haste’: Calcutta HC orders return of Bengali migrants deported to Bangladesh
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Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has quashed the Union government’s deportation orders against two migrant worker families from West Bengal, directing that six individuals pushed into Bangladesh earlier this year be brought back to India within four weeks.
A division bench of Justices Reetobroto Mitra and Tapabrata Chakraborty, while hearing two habeas corpus petitions, held that the authorities had “acted in hot haste” and “admittedly did not follow” the Union home ministry’s May 2 guidelines on identifying and deporting undocumented foreigners.
The deported group includes 26-year-old Sunali Khatun from Birbhum district, who was in an advanced stage of pregnancy. The court noted glaring inconsistencies in the official proceedings, observing that her interrogation report claimed she had crossed into India in 1998 even though her Aadhaar and PAN records proved she had not yet been born at that time.
Petitioners Bhodu Sekh and Amir Khan alleged that their relatives, who had moved to Delhi for employment, were detained in June, coerced into signing documents, and subsequently deported to Bangladesh through Guwahati.
The bench concluded that the deportations “raise a suspicion that the concerned authorities, while acting in hot haste, have clearly violated the provisions” of the May 2 instructions. It directed the Union government to coordinate with the Indian High Commission in Dhaka and ensure the six deportees’ repatriation. A government plea to stay the order was rejected.
The ruling has triggered a political row. Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP of targeting Bengali speakers, saying, “They are arresting and detaining people just for speaking Bengali… along with the slap that the high court delivered today, they must also apologise.”
BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar described the deportations as “an awful mistake” and called Khatun’s case “collateral damage,” but maintained that “lakhs of Bangladeshi infiltrators cannot be allowed to stay in our country using this instance as a shield."
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Former minister C M Ibrahim announces to launch new regional party for Karnataka
Kalaburagi: Two years after being expelled from the Janata Dal (Secular), former minister C.M. Ibrahim has announced that he will launch a new regional political party in Karnataka on January 24, reported Deccan Herald.
Speaking at a meeting organised by the Nava Karnataka Nirmana Andolana in Kalaburagi on Sunday, Ibrahim confirmed the birth of the new party.
The 77-year-old politician stated he would soon be meeting with other like-minded individuals to choose a symbol for the party.
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Ibrahim emphasised that the organisation would be guided by the principles of 12th-century social reformer Basavanna and the architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
A veteran politician, Ibrahim served as Union Civil Aviation Minister during the tenure of H.D. Deve Gowda as Prime Minister and later headed the Karnataka unit of the Janata Dal (Secular). He was expelled from the JD(S) in 2023 on charges of anti-party activities.
His exit from the party followed sharp differences over the JD(S) decision to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As the then state president of the JD(S), Ibrahim had publicly criticised the alliance, claiming it was finalised without his knowledge. He had also reportedly convened meetings of his supporters and expressed support for the INDIA bloc.
