Bengal: Sunali Khatun deported as an illegal but parents are in 2002 voters list

KOLKATA: Parents of Sunali Khatun, the pregnant Birbhum woman disowned as an illegal immigrant in India & incarcerated in Bangladesh for illegal entry, were retained as legitimate voters in Bengal's 2002 electoral rolls after the last SIR of voter data in state.The rolls, available on the CEO West Bengal portal, show Bhodu Sheikh and Jyotsna Bibi as voters in Murarai assembly constituency of Birbhum. The polling station assigned to the couple was Paikar Prathamik Vidyalaya, room No. 3. The listing mentions Bhodu's father as Hatim Tai Sheikh.For 26-year-old Sunali to be acknowledged as an Indian by birth, Citizenship Act mandates that at least one of parents would need to have been a citizen at the time.

Delhi Police picked up Sunali, her husband Danish Sheikh and their son, 8, from KN Katju Marg on June 21, branding them illegals even when they had Aadhaar cards & other documents. Foreigners' Regional Registration Office had issued a deportation order.Based on a SC order to verify Sunali's citizenship, a Calcutta HC division bench said the documents submitted by her family were not enough to decide whether she was an Indian.

The bench, however, quashed FRRO's deportation order. On September 26, the bench directed Centre to bring Sunali's family back within four weeks. "Detainees have their relations residing in Bengal. There was no allegation that they are indulging in activities prejudicial to the state," it said.

"As such, the kind of overenthusiasm in deporting the detainees, as visible herein, is susceptible to misunderstanding...The

proceeding for deportation was conducted in haste."The bench also questioned the veracity of Delhi Police's interrogation report, citing incorrect data. "It was stated that Sunali (Khatun) crossed over and illegally entered India sometime in 1998. Sunali's Aadhaar and PAN reflect her age as 26 years, indicating she was born in 2000. Hence, Sunali could not have entered India in 1998."Centre challenged the order in SC last week, coinciding with a contempt petition filed by Sunali's family against the authorities for failing to bring her back by Oct 24, the division bench's deadline.

SC is scheduled to hear the case on November 7.

Booth with 842 voters goes missing

All 842 people registered as voters at a booth in Ashoknagar of Bengal’s North 24 Parganas are missing from 2002 SIR rolls now available on EC’swebsite, sparking panic. The booth, no. 159 in Guma area, has also disappeared from the list, reports Sanjib Chakraborty. The SIR 2002 rolls are base document against which the revision will be done. All these voters claim they were not only enlisted in 2002 rolls but had also voted in 2024 LSpolls.

To make matters worse, 71 names from another booth (61) in the same belt are missing from EC portal. Locals fear the unexplained disappearance of data may jeopardise their citizenship status & voting rights.