Abhishek Names Sunali Khatun's Son 'Apon' After Visiting Her In Bengal Hospital

Rampurhat: TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, who was on a trip to Rampurhat in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, called on Sunali Khatun at the hospital where she gave birth to a son.

Banerjee named the newborn 'Apon' which translates to dear in Bengali. Abhishek turned the occasion to slam the BJP, blaming te saffron party-led government for Sunali’s deportation to Bangladesh before she returned to India. "The BJP will have to pay the price for Sunali's tears,” he said.

After overcoming a helicopter malfunction, Abhishek Banerjee held a public meeting in Rampurhat, After the meeting, accompanied by Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam, he went to the Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital.

Speaking to reporters after leaving the hospital, Banerjee said, "I spoke to Sunali Khatun. She shared her ordeal, narrating how she had to spend days and months on the streets and in the jungles before reaching Dhaka. There, the Bangladeshi police arrested them. They had to spend time in jail. Sunali's only fault is that she speaks Bengali."

He further added, "Their parents' names are on the 2002 voter list. Yet, they were forcibly declared Bangladeshis. When the case went to the High Court and Supreme Court, they faced humiliation. I went inside following all protocols. I spoke to them. Sunali and her mother requested me to name the baby. I said you have gone through such hardships, so you should name the child. Despite that, they insisted, and I named the baby Apon. They were abandoned and treated as outsiders, though they are all our own people."

Abhishek Banerjee assured that he would visit Sunali Khatun's house in Rampurhat again within a few months. He also said that all necessary legal assistance would be provided to bring back others.

Incidentally, Sunali Khatun and Sweety Bibi's families, residents of Paikar in Birbhum, had gone to Delhi in search of work. It is alleged that despite having valid documents of Indian citizenship, they were arrested by the Delhi Police on June 17.

On June 26, six people were pushed back across the India-Bangladesh border in Assam and sent to Bangladesh. At that time, Sunali was pregnant.

The police in Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh, arrested them calling them illegal immigrants and filed a case against them. They were held in a local correctional facility for more than a hundred days. Later, following an order from the Supreme Court, Khatun was brought back to India.