The residents of India’s erstwhile exclaves in Panchagarh district who have decided to take Bangladeshi nationality want the former Indian territories to be turned into independent unions in Bangladesh.
After 68 years of neglect under India, exclave residents say they are keen to fast-track the development of the under-served areas.
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“We want our exclave to be a separate union to enable the quick development of the land,” Rabbul Alam, 50, a resident of Dahala Khagrabari in Panchagarh, told the Dhaka Tribune on Thursday.
Rabbul, also president of the exclave Citizen Committee, said the residents of the former Indian territory had never enjoyed any public services. But Rabbul believes his people’s deprivation will continue if the exclave is attached to an existing union.
Former exclave residents, some of whom described their lives as “wretched,” said they want to transform their condition after becoming part of Bangladesh.
Tojammel Hossen, vice president of the exclave Citizen Committee said: “Currently exclaves are administered by a citizen committee formed by the people of the exclaves of both India and Bangladesh.”
“The committee will automatically lapse after the exchange of territory takes place at midnight on July 31,” he said.
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Tojammel demanded that the land be declared a separate union and elections be held to form a local administration.
He said: “There are three enclaves – Balapara Khagrabari, Dhala Khagrabari and Kothajini – situated close to one another in Panchagarh. The people living here want them to be merged into an independent union.”
“Some 12,000 people live in the three exclaves and the total length of the territory is around 28 kilometres, fulfilling the requirements to form a union,” Hossen said.
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Dahala Khagrabari resident Bokul Islam, a second-year Honours student at a Bangladeshi college who used a fake local address in order to gain admission to the educational institute, said: “We have long been deprived of basic amenities. We should get give special benefits.”
Shahidul Islam, 50, a resident of the same exclave, said: “The exclaves have no proper roads, schools, colleges, hospitals, clinics, sanitary facilities or electricity.”
He demanded a special allocation in the Bangladesh government budget to develop the infrastructure of India’s former exclaves.
Shahidul continued: “Everybody living in the exclaves is involved in agriculture and yet they have never received government assistance with irrigation or government support to procure seeds, machinery, fertilisers and pesticides.
“Forming a separate union will enable the residents of the former exclaves to quickly bring much needed infrastructure to the area and improve their lives.”
