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.Kolkata: The family of Sonali Bibi, a pregnant woman from West Bengal’s Birbhum district, is gripped with anxiety as they await her return from a jail in Bangladesh. Wrongfully identified as an undocumented immigrant and pushed across the border by Indian authorities, Sonali and five others now face legal battles in both countries.The Calcutta high court on Friday (September 26) ordered their repatriation within four weeks of its order, but with Sonali’s delivery imminent, her family fears her child may be born in a foreign land, triggering a complex citizenship crisis.“I pray that my grandchild is born in my country,” said Bhodu Sheikh, Sonali’s father from Dhitara village. “We are anxious about new problems over citizenship.”The trouble began in June when six migrant workers from Birbhum – Sonali, her husband Danish Sheikh and their five-year-old son, along with another migrant worker Sweety Bibi and her two minor children – were picked up by the Delhi police from the Rohini area on suspicion of being undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh.They were subsequently taken to Assam and pushed across the border into Bangladesh.In Bangladesh, they were arrested by the Border Guard Bangladesh for illegal entry and are currently imprisoned in Chapainawabganj in the country’s north.The families in Birbhum were left frantic. “My son-in-law and his family work as construction laborers in Delhi,” Bhodu explained. “When we couldn’t reach them, we got worried. In July, Danish called from Bangladesh and told us what had happened. We have been residents of Paikor [in Birbhum] for generations. Why should the Bangladesh government’s case be forced upon us when our own government pushed them over there?”Sweety’s mother, Rezina Bibi, shared a similar story of distress. “My daughter worked as a domestic helper in Delhi and would send money home. When I lost contact, I approached everyone from the panchayat to the BDO [block development office], only to learn she had been branded a Bangladeshi and deported,” she said.Also read: Family of Pregnant Worker Pushed into Bangladesh Pin Hopes on High CourtIn its orders in habeas corpus petitions filed by Bhodu and Sweety’s cousin Amir Khan respectively, the Calcutta high court held that the authorities had “acted in hot haste” and may have “clearly violated” the Union home ministry’s instructions on deporting suspected undocumented foreigners.In Sonali’s case the court found that the authorities’ haste was evidenced by the fact that her interrogation report says she crossed into India in 1998 even though her Aadhaar and PAN details indicate she had not yet been born that year.The court also directed the government to facilitate the return of all six persons within four weeks of receipt of its order.“Even after the Calcutta high court’s verdict, it must be remembered that Sonali and the other five are still imprisoned in a jail in Chapainawabganj. If, by any chance, Sonali’s child is born in Bangladesh, will it not lead to new legal complications? A case is ongoing against them in a Bangladeshi court, identifying them as illegal intruders,” said Arnab Pal of the Migrant Workers’ Unity Forum, which has been at the forefront in bringing the case into the limelight.Following the court’s decision, Trinamool Congress MP Samirul Islam met with Sonali and Sweety’s families and assured them that efforts would be made to bring them back swiftly. However, legal and diplomatic hurdles remain.“The Calcutta high court’s verdict clears the way from India’s side,” said high court lawyer Sabyasachi Chatterjee. “Now, the issue needs to be resolved through diplomatic talks between the two countries to bring them back.”Prior to this, since June, 19-year-old Amir Sheikh and at least 15 others have been brought back with the help of the West Bengal government and police after pressure was put on the Union government; they were returned following efforts made through diplomatic channels.“It is unclear if similar pressure was put on the Union government to take diplomatic initiatives in this case. If we look towards Tripura and Assam, many examples of such pushbacks can be found, where the victims are predominantly Bengali Muslims. In those cases, the emphasis is first placed on bringing them back,” said Pal.For Sonali’s family, the primary concern remains the impending birth. Their hope is for a swift diplomatic resolution that brings her home, preventing her unborn child from becoming a new “Toba Tek Singh”, whose very identity is caught between two nations’ complex history of citizenship disputes.With inputs from and translated from the Bengali original by Aparna Bhattacharya.