The districts of Kurigram and Panchagarh saw their first batches of former exclave residents leave Bangladesh to move to India yesterday.
In Kurigram, 72 people who were previously residents of two former exclaves moved to the neighbouring country’s Cooch Behar district through the Bagbhandar border area in Kurigram’s Bhurungamari upazila yesterday afternoon, our Kurigram correspondent reported.
They reached the border around 11am and were able to enter India around 1:30pm, where they were welcomed by Sri P Ulaganathan, Cooch Behar district magistrate, and Abhijit Mitra, representative of the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh.
Before the went into immigration, the former exclave members were seen off by Md Rafiqul Islam, additional deputy commissioner of Kurigram district, Lt Col Md Zakir Hossain, commander of 45 Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Battalion, Nasir Uddin Mahmud, executive officer of Phulbari upazila, and Mamun Bhuiyan, executive officer of Bhurungamari upazila, among others.
In Panchagarh, 48 former exclave residents in Boda upazila crossed over to India yesterday morning, our Panchagarh correspondent reported.
They arrived at the Kajoldighi Kaliaganj union parishad premises on Saturday afternoon for luggage checking by the officials of the BGB and Bangladesh Customs. After the checking was done, they left for India yesterday morning on two buses.
Additional District Magistrate of Panchagarh Md Golam Azam saw them off with flowers as they left.
The air grew heavy as the former exclave members’ remaining families, friends and neighbours bade them a teary goodbye. Some of the exclave residents said it was rather difficult to leave everything here behind.
Lakshmi Rani, one of the residents in Kurigram’s Phulbari exclave, said: “I am moving with my two sons, daughter-in-laws and grandchildren. Leaving all that I had here is breaking my heart. But I have no choice; my children want to move to India.”
Out of Kurigram’s 12 former exclaves, residents of only two exclaves registered to move to India when the exclaves were absorbed, said Md Rafiqul Islam.
The second batch of residents, comprising 115 people from the absorbed Dasiar Chhara exclave, wll leaved for India tomorrow, and the third batch comprising 78 Dasiar Chhara residents will leave on Thursday.
In Panchagarh, the next batch of residents – 177 people from former Kotbhajoni and Balapara Khagrabari exclaves – will leave for India tomorrow.
