Over 200 enclave residents drop plan to settle in India
FUTURE TENSE Some feel B’desh offers better prospects
Around 200 Indian citizens in Bangladesh who were supposed to cross over as part of a historic boundary agreement have applied to stay back, saying they were too attached to their villages and unsure of economic prospects in a new country.
The two nations had kicked off on August 1 a process of exchanging 162 enclaves, marking the culmination of a border dispute that has lingered since Independence.
But the initiative has now hit a roadblock in the form of the dissenting Indian citizens. The people hail mostly from lowermiddle class background and are Hindus, but feel a better future awaits them in their “home” country.
“My family applied for Indian citizenship under my pressure. But now my wife and children are in tears. They do not want to leave Bangladesh. They are deeply attached to this land and the people,” said Manmohan Burman, a resident of the erstwhile Indian enclave of Dasiar Chhara.
But they may be out of time. With the November 30 deadline for the swap fast approaching, Bangladeshi authorities may be forced to deport them if India turns down their request to stay back as all of them are valid Indian citizens.
“We are not blaming India. But we are firm on our decision to stay back. Should the authorities try to deport us forcefully, we would die. Our bodies may be handed over to India,” said Liton Burman, Manmohan’s neighbour. “We are too attached to Bangladesh.”
The change of heart may have been triggered by a September trip made by a group which visited West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district for a few days to assess the prospects if they returned to India.
Only 987 of the around 37,000 resident of erstwhile enclaves in Bangladesh had opted for Indian citizenships while none of the nearly 14,000 dwellers of land pockets in West Bengal opted for Bangladeshi citizenship. “About 200 people who earlier opted for Indian citizenship have changed their minds. Since they are already Indian citizens set to be deported, their fate is in the hands of Indian authorities,” Abraham Lincoln, a Bangladesh-based lawyer and human rights activist, told HT. “Religion is no factor behind their decision. It is economic.”
The residents are also worried about immediate facilities. The first batch of enclave dwellers — comprising about 40 people — is slated to reach Mekhliganj in Cooch Behar on November 19. They will be accommodated in makeshift residences at Mekhliganj, Dinhata and Haldibari until per manent structures are ready.