They are foreigners in their own land. Unwanted and unacknowledged. Seeing the miserable life they lead being forever condemned in those narrow strips of land, one may wonder if they are considered human beings at all!
“If we are a part of India, why doesn’t the Indian government look after us? They value our land, but not our lives,” said an enraged Rafiqul of Boro Garaljora enclave, which is situated inside Bangladesh but belongs to India.
The lives of hundreds of people living in the disputed enclaves – more commonly known as Chhitmahals – in Bangladesh and India are at the mercy of political power game. Since the time of the Mughal empire to the present day, there had been a number of initiatives to exchange the adversely held enclaves. Much has also been written about the hardship of the Chhitmahal residents. But the issue still remains unresolved putting the lives of the people in a limbo.
The 162 Chhitmahals, 111 within Bangladesh and 51 India, is home to some 51,000 people. Among them 37,369 people are residing in Bangladesh while 14,221 are in India.
There are 12 Chhitmahals belonging to India in Kurigram district of Bangladesh. At least 10 are in the Bhurungamari upazila housing about 300 families. According to an estimation, about 1800 people live in those enclaves. Boro Garaljora Chhitmahal measuring at 35.24 acre has 17 families, while the Chhoto Garaljora is 17.78 acre and Kalamati is 21 acre. From these enclaves, India’s Dinhata police station is about 20-25 kilometre and the Coochbihar district Sadar is about 45-50 kilometre.
A visit to the Chhitmahals in Kurigram has revealed what hardships the residents go through everyday. There is no schools, hospitals, markets or access to bare necessities for these people. Each time they step out of enclaves they can be arrested by law enforcers or humiliated by others.
Children of the Chhitamahal dwellers have no access to education. Sometimes they have to hide their identity to get admitted into schools as being a Chhitmahal resident is deemed shameful.
19 year old Sajjad Hossain of the Boro Garaljora enclave said with anguish: “If we are Indian citizen, why didn’t the Indian government provide us education facility? Why have we remained illiterate?”
The state of healthcare is probably the worst in the Chhitmahals. In absence of proper doctors and hospitals, people are often victim of quacks. They are not allowed to cross the border for better treatment. In many areas, the enclaves have literally become prisons for its inhabitants, who grow up and die in that small strip of land.
“We are living a caged life being stuck between two independent countries. When will we have our independence? If this Chhit goes to Bangladesh, we will be able to breathe freely, finally,” said Basir Hossain of Kalamati Chhitmahal.
The residents complaint of no accountability, jurisdiction and administration making the enclaves a haven for terrorists, drug dealers and all sorts of criminals. Because there is no government in most of the enclaves, the infrastructure is heavily underdeveloped.
Agriculture, the basic income source for the enclave residents, is dependent solely on the primitive method. Non-existence of modern irrigation, machinery or knowledge harms the production to a great extent. Moreover, the farmers are bound to sell their produce at a low price in the Bangladeshi market.
Many residents said the pay was better in India. But they cannot go there as they do not have any papers. Major portion of the border area around these enclaves are separated by barbed wire fencing put up by India. Border Security Force (BSF) patrols the areas with guns.
Since the residents share the same language, skin colour and religious belief with their Bangladeshi neighbours, it is hard to distinguish. However, whenever they reveal their identity, the enclave residents face untold miseries.
“We are deprived of all basic amenities. I am at the end of my life but yet I do not know my nationality,” 60 year old Mahiuddin let out a deep sigh.
The frustration and hopelessness ring true for all the residents of the enclaves, both in India and in Bangladesh. For them, it is neither about bread and butter nor a standard living, but more about being free.
Chhitmahal residents want to live their lives with independence, dignity and identity. Most of them want to stay in their land as Bangladeshis as they have relatives here and share the same religious belief. But there are exceptions too. Kalamati’s Amena Begum said she wanted to live in India as her ancestral home is there.
On this backdrop, the recent development in settling the land dispute between Bangladesh and India has come as a breath of fresh air for the enclave dwellers.
Welcoming the recent statement of Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of Paschimbanga, on her approval of the proposed Land Boundary Agreement deal, Golam Mostafa of Bangladesh-India Enclaves Exchange Coordination Committee said, they were very happy with the news.
“We also distributed sweets among us. Now we are hoping that the bill will be approved before the Victory Day of Bangladesh on December 16, which will be also our day of freedom,” he said in an emotion-choked voice.