Mass evictions of people living in slums across cities, using force, allegations of harbouring ‘illegal migrants’ have acquired phenomenal pace in the past few months. Calling out certain demographics, like Muslims and those who speak in Bengali, as non-citizens and housing them in ‘holding centres’ has made the exercise acquire a menacing character. The Wire reports on people vital to building city infrastructure, living on the margins, now suddenly finding their citizenship challenged. Paikar (Bengal): “Which country will her unborn child go to for their rights?”This reporter, preparing his questions, is instead questioned by Sunali Khatun’s mother.Twenty-five-year-old Sunali, the daughter of a destitute migrant labourer family from the remote Paikar village in Birbhum district of Bengal, was in Delhi for work.Sunali Khatun. Photo: A screengrab from her Aadhaar card.Her family alleges that Delhi police first detained the eight-month pregnant Sunali on suspicion of being “Bangladeshi.” Then, blindfolded, she, her husband and eight-year-old son, were allegedly pushed into Bangladesh in the dead of night. In recent months, incidents of harassment against Bengali-speaking, especially Bengali-speaking Muslim migrant workers in India’s states, have made news. Sunali Khatun and her husband, Danish Sheikh, are new names added to the list.Her mother Jyotsna Bibi cannot stop herself from thinking of the worst. “Will there be a miscarriage? What will be the nationality of the newborn?” she asks.Sunali’s father, Bhadu Sheikh, is equally distraught and has almost stopped speaking. Thirty years ago, Bhadu Sheikh went to Delhi in search of work and fortune. There, he says, he drove a rickshaw for three decades, while his wife collected wastepaper. That’s how the household ran. Old age robbed Bhadu of his ability to work and the couple returned to Bengal. Sunali took up domestic work to feed her parents.She married Danish Sheikh (29), a Delhi resident. The couple lived in Sector 26 of Rohini in the city.‘Bangladeshi’On June 18, police from Delhi’s K.N. Katju Marg station detained them. Sunali’s family claims that despite the fact that the couple showed police documents like their Aadhaar and voter ID cards, police handed them over to the Border Security Forces on suspicion of them being “Bangladeshi.” The family’s claim is that on June 26, they were “pushed” into Bangladesh via India’s Mehedi border.Jyotsna Bibi says, “During the nighttime border crossing, Sonali’s eyes were blindfolded. They were warned at gunpoint: If you return, you’ll be shot.” Sunali Khatun, Danish Sheikh, and their eight-year-old son, Salim, were sent to Bangladesh with no possessions but just the clothes on their backs.Sweety Bibi. Photo: From a village official’s document.Not just Sunali’s family, her friend Sweety Bibi (33), also from same village, was pushed out along with them. Sweety, a widow, was with her two children, 16-year-old Kurban and five-year-old Iman when she was detained. In Birbhum’s Paikar, Sweety’s mother also waits for her daughter.According to Sunali’s family, after being pushed into Bangladesh, she found shelter in the Rajshahi area. There, through locals, Sunali and Sweety contacted their family and recounted the incident. To bring their daughter back, Sonali’s family reached out to the West Bengal Parijayee Sramik Aiykyamancha.Sunali’s parents say that in Bangladesh, locals are now providing the couple with two meals a day. But ironically, since they are undocumented there – the very claim that the law enforcement used to drive them out of India – they have to stay in hiding. Sunali, as a pregnant woman deserving care, does not have access to the healthcare she needs, says her family. While her parents worry about stress and malnutrition, they also wonder what happens when the child is born.Breaking a long silence, Bhadu Sheikh says, “I’ve been in Delhi for 30 years. I never imagined something like this would happen.”Jyotsna Bibi adds, “I begged her so much, the girl didn’t come for Eid. She said, ‘I won’t get leave from work. You go, I’ll come later.’ She sent one child to live with us. That child cries all day for his mother. What crime has Sunali committed? Ask around the area. If anyone says we’re Bangladeshi, we’ll leave the village today.”Jyotsna Bibi and Bhadu Sheikh (seated) at Paikar. Photo: Arka Deb.‘Land deeds from 1952’Arif Sheikh, a member of the Birbhum branch of the Parijayee Sramik Aikya Mach, says that when Sunali’s family contacted them, they first collected legal documents. Sunali’s family has deeds from 1952. Locals assured the forum that Bhadu Sheikh’s family has lived in Birbhum’s Paikar for generations. This reporter has seen copies of Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards or PAN cards of those in Sunali and Sweety’s families, including the women themselves.With the forum’s help, Bhadu Sheikh has filed a case in the high court.The Union government, through Additional Solicitor General Ashok Chakraborty, told the Calcutta high court that it cannot hear these habeas corpus petitions because the matter is already being heard in the Supreme Court.The division bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Reetobrato Kumar Mitre said that the matter is serious and that the next hearing will be on September 10. Bhadu Sheikh says that the court is their last hope. He finds solace in the news that Amir Sheikh, who had been pushed into Bangladesh and then made a video that went viral, has found his way back.The only question that floats in the air, with so much risk and harassment, why do people like Sunali leave Birbhum for distant places to work? Locals say, there’s little land in the village. Working as sharecroppers on others’ land doesn’t yield enough to run a household.Meanwhile, MGNREGS, the 100-day rural work scheme has been stalled for a long time in the state. As a result, villages are emptying out. For women, there’s beedi-rolling work in the village. Rolling 1,000 beedis earns Rs 200-250 but takes five days. Villagers also fear tuberculosis taking root in the body in this line of work.In recent months, uproar has erupted over incidents of harassment against Bengali-speaking migrant workers in various Indian states. The heat has reached West Bengal’s politics too. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has promised to create a portal for migrant workers, named “Shramshree.” Registering there will provide identity cards to migrant workers. However, the state government already has a portal called “Karmasathi,” specifically for migrant workers. So, what’s the difference between “Karmasathi” and “Shramshree”? Even concerned department officials don’t know yet.With higher wages in Odisha, Delhi, and other states, it is no surprise that migrant workers who returned home after beatings and harassment find themselves willing to return to the sites of this torture.