Frontier Betrayal: Enclave Dwellers Turn Their Backs on India

Lack of proper arrangements disappoints enclave dwellers who had chosen to relocate to India, writes Sudipta Chanda.

Mystery shrouds the recurrent postponement of dates for the arrival of residents from the Indian enclaves along Bangladesh to mainland India. The migration was scheduled to begin on November 1, was postponed to November 6 and has now been pushed back to an uncertain date.

Neither the Centre nor the West Bengal government is forthcoming on reasons behind the repeated rescheduling, which is giving rise to speculation. According to grapevine, with the initial excitement of the enclaves exchange over, hard reality now stares potential migrants in the face. As a result, several might forsake relocation.

Pursuant to the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) signed between the governments of India and Bangladesh during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s June 6 visit to that country, 987 residents of the 111 Indian enclaves that went to Bangladesh had opted to relocate to the Indian mainland.

The assimilation of the enclaves and adverse positions, respectively, juxtaposed to the two countries went off smoothly as agreed upon by the LBA, on July 31, midnight. By that accession, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves adjacent to India incorporated with the country along with their 14,854 inhabitants while 111 Indian enclaves adjacent to Bangladesh went to that country along with its population.

Ambiguity Mars Resettlement

• Migration of Bangladeshi enclave dwellers scheduled to begin on November 1, postponed to November 6 and then pushed back to an uncertain date
  
• 987 out of 41,449 residents of 111 Indian enclaves opted to relocate to India
• Resettlement marred by claims by Bangladeshi fundamentalists that this is a suppressed figure, more people want to go across
  
• Three refugee shelters at Haldibari, Mekhliganj and Dinhata set up in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal
• Returnees, however, not happy with arrangements at these shelters
  

Those Wanting to Relocate to India

However, as the option to relocate to the country of their choice was made to the enclave dwellers, 987 out of 41,449 residents of the Indian enclaves opted to relocate to India. This prompted an outcry among Indian politicians of all hues and certain pressure groups as well.

By their claim, the number of people willing to migrate was much more, but had been stifled by a section of Bangladeshi fundamentalists. If now what is being rumoured behind the postponement of the refugees’ arrival date is true, that claim will come unstuck.

The Centre has set up three refugee shelters at Haldibari, Mekhliganj and Dinhata (all in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal), to house the migrants. It has also facilitated a trip for potential migrants on temporary visa on September 9 to the three camp sites for them to take stock of what awaited them.

It has been decided that after the cross over the migrants would be allowed to stay in these shelters for two years. Self-help groups would be engaged to feed them for a month and thereafter they would get ration. They would be provided with photo identity, Aadhar and job cards entitling them to MNREGA employment. Once the documentation process is over, the migrants would be eligible to settle at any place of their choice in the country and the Centre would financially aid them to rehabilitate. The quantum of financial help for home and hearth, however, remains undisclosed.

Dissatisfied Migrants

The ground information is, not all migrants are happy with the arrangements. “Representatives of the probable migrants surveyed the living conditions in the refugee camps and other arrangements since September 9. They were far from satisfied with what they saw,” said Diptiman Sengupta, chief co-ordinator of Citizens’ Rights’ Co-ordination Committee (CRCC), which pledges to strive for the rights of border residents including the enclave dwellers.

“We are not hand-to-mouth people. We have landed property in the enclaves. We cannot put up in such tin sheds in a slum-like environment after crossing over to the mainland,” said Sunil Barman, a resident of Dashiarchhara, an Indian enclave that has gone to Bangladesh. “How will we fend for ourselves after settling down here? Under the circumstances, we will have to think twice before relocating to the mainland,” Barman added.

“Many of us have agriculture land in the enclaves. Sensing we have to make distress sale in order to relocate to the mainland, land sharks are sniffing around offering paltry amounts for our land. We cannot sell our land at throwaway prices and sail for an uncertain future to the mainland. We are therefore hesitant,” said Joy Prakash Roy, a resident of Nazirganj enclave, summing up the problem of several others like him.

“This is the harvesting season and many potential migrants have crop standing in the fields. Then there are matters like children’s education, vocation, social security and a plethora of other issues that are crucial for the migrants. No authority this side of the border has a ready answer to all these angles. More homework should have gone into the exercise,” points out Sengupta.

The tin sheds are waiting, but the probable occupants are still a country away. “We are prepared and awaiting the Centre’s green signal,” claims the Cooch Behar district magistrate, P Ulganathan, without elaborating any further.

(The writer is a Siliguri-based freelance journalist)