Bangla border villagers' life on fence

TT, Jalpaiguri, Oct. 19: Over 300 residents of Singhpara village under Jalpaiguri Sadar block on the India-Bangladesh border are worried as they might be pushed to the other side of the fence at the boundary after the frontier is redrawn.

"Singhpara and two other villages - Berubari and Khudipara - which together measure 374.99 acres were known as adverse possession land. This means, though the villagers are within the Indian territory and residents are Indians and enjoy all benefits, it was not on the official map of the country. The villages were shown as part of Bangladesh in the map," said Gobinda Roy, the former MLA of Jalpaiguri and advisor to the Berubari Simanta Pratiraksha O Unnayan Sangram Committee.

"Conversely, there are some other villages on the Bangladesh side which were shown on the Indian map. When the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) was signed, it was decided that the plots which were in adverse possession of both the countries would be transferred to each other," said Roy.

Accordingly, Berubari, Singhpara and Khudipara were transferred to Jalpaiguri district of India from Panchagarh district in Bangladesh.

"Unlike the enclaves which were landlocked within the mainland of the other country (Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and vice-versa) and where the residents were offered citizenship of the country concerned or option to move to the other country following the LBA, those residing in the adverse possession land were connected with the mainland. The only problem was that their area was not marked in the map of the motherland. That is why it was decided in the LBA that residents of those areas would not have to shift to the other country like the erstwhile enclave dwellers. Like enclave dwellers, these people do not need to be provided with citizenship as they are already citizens of India and Bangladesh," said Roy.

After the LBA came into force last year, the central government took the task of marking the boundary in Berubari, Singhpara and Khudipara.

"This is where the problem has started. The survey is in progress and we have come to know that of the 80-odd families in Singhpara, 36 would have homes and land beyond the fence," Sirajul Haque, a Singhpara resident, said.

Both the countries erect fences 150m away from the border. That means, there will be vacant land 150m wide on either side of the border called the zero point.

"Considering the manner in which the survey is being carried out to erect fences, we think houses and even the local mosque will go beyond the fence," said Haque.

The marking of the border is done by an expert team consisting of representatives of several departments of the Union government with the help of the BSF.

Nurjahan Nesa, a housewife, said: "If we have agricultural plot beyond the fence, it's a different thing. But we can't imagine of our home coming beyond the fence. Till now, we were connected with places like Berubari, Haldibari and Jalpaiguri and had the BSF at the border. Now, if the border fence and the proposed border road are built in the middle of the village, we will face several problems," she said.

Officials of Jalpaiguri district administration are, however, in the dark on the entire issue.

"We are aware of the handing over of adverse possession land as per the LBA. But we had no idea that because of construction of fences, so many families will fall on the other side of the fence. We will soon start collecting details about these families and inform the district magistrate," Sima Haldar, the subdivisional officer of Jalpaiguri, said.