Previously a neglected exclave resident, Sahara Begum lost her son in a truck accident while working in a brick field in India. In mid-July, she gave birth to another son on Bangladeshi land.
She saw her son Sujon die and was denied justice only because she was an exclave resident. But now she hopes that her second son, Sumon, will get a secured life.
Sumon was born on July 10, a month after the signing of the historic Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh.
Sahara and her husband Danesh went to India for work around 12 years ago with their two children – a boy and a girl. They found job at a brick field where their son Sujon died in an accident.
The couple was threatened not to file a complaint with the police station and also forced to leave the workplace. They were given some money as compensation with which they returned to Bangladesh.
“I did not get justice for the death of my son as we were illegal in India although we were residents of an Indian exclave,” said Danesh, 40.
He also failed to ensure a normal life for his only daughter Swapna.
Swapna, 22, got married to a Bangladeshi named Aminul while working in the brick field. But Aminul abandoned her soon after she gave birth to a child.
She too had not been able to take legal actions against Aminul only because of being an exclave dweller.
Before Sumon’s birth, Sahara recalled, she had been kicked out of a Bangladeshi hospital as she did not have any proof national identity.
The Sahara-Danesh couple now hopes that their new child will get access to all citizen rights and benefits.
Sumon’s future would be different from the two other children, she hopes. “He is the only lucky member of my family.”