2 years on, ‘enclave’ people wait for a better life

For 33 of 35 years of his life, Osman Ghani’s was a stateless existence at Choto Guraljhara-II, a small Indian enclave in Kurigram district of Bangladesh. The enclaves ceased to exist following implementation of a land-swap deal between the two nations on July 31, 2015; but Ghani — now an Indian citizen — is not much better off.

On November 22, 2015, Ghani and his family of five left their ancestral home for India. He was not alone. A total of 921 people — out of approximately 37,000 in 111 former Indian enclaves — declined to take Bangladeshi citizenship and relocated to India.

Though the majority were Hindus, there were many Muslims, like Ghani, who preferred the Indian identity. “I wanted to be in India,” he told BusinessLine .

The 215 families were welcomed by Indian officials at the border gates with fanfare, and accommodated in temporary shelters at Mekhliganj, Haldibari and Dinhata in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, with a promise of rehabilitation within two years.

Free supply of essentials was offered as an interim measure.

Almost two years later, Ghani and all others who came with him live in the same temporary shelters. Every family gets free supply of rice (30 kg), dal (5kg), edible oil (5 litres), kerosene (5 litres) and milk powder (1 kg). But the quota of rice and kerosene, in particular, is not sufficient to survive an entire month.

Though ration cards were issued to these families more than a year ago, they have been denied them access to fair price shops as they get free supplies.

And there is no provision for financial support. The State government had conducted some skill development training. Local bodies offer 70-odd days of manual work in a year through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Ghani, who lives in the Dinhata camp, along with 57 other families, says the manual labour offered under MGNREGA is not the cup of tea for many who had reared cattle and not done heavy physical labour in Bangladesh. So, what does he do for a living? The Alim pass-out (equivalent to class XII) from a madrasa, now tries his hand at Unani medicine.

What disappoints Ghani the most is what he calls the insensitivity of the state administration, which barely lends an ear to their aspirations and expectations.

The state, for example, proposed to rehabilitate them in flats as part of a ₹1,005-crore project approved by the Centre. The budget includes improvement of infrastructure in 51 former Bangladeshi enclaves, now an integral part of India.

Ghani and the others who have relocated in Inda are not keen on the proposal. “We are villagers with large families. Rearing cattle is part of our lifestyle. Flats do not suit us. We would prefer even a small house over costly flats.”

The state administration is yet to pay act on their request. Land was acquired for building apartments, often in locations far away from anything.

Last week, 45 families in Mekhligunj camp went on an indefinite hunger to draw the administration’s attention to their problems. They are due to be rehabilitated to a tea plantation area in Changrabandha.

According to CPI(M) mouthpiece Ganashakti , after three days of complete silence, on June 16, district authorities lathicharged the protesters, injuring 18 including eight women.

The families withdrew from the hunger strike after the district administration promised to look into their grievances.

Jaynal Abedin, an MA student from a former Bangladeshi enclave at Madhya Mashaldanga, now residing at Cooch Behar, feels the lack of sensitivity of the state administration has made life difficult for the relocated families.

“They don’t have jobs. Supply of essentials is not enough. And the idea of bundling these villagers in flats, that too in godforsaken places, was wrong,” he says.

Diptiman Sengupta, who had led the movement for the land swap and now a local BJP leader, alleges corruption has taken a toll of the rehabilitation plan.

The West Bengal government, he says, claimed to have spent ₹277 crore in rehabilitation so far.

This includes ₹70 crore for constructing 200-odd temporary tin sheds on government land.

On Sunday, leading Bengali daily Ananda Bazar Patrika reported purchase of approximately four acres in a remote location at ₹1.32 crore — which is allegedly thrice the market price — for rehabilitation purposes.

The State government in the past, however, has blamed non-cooperation of the Centre as the prime hurdle for the rehabilitation process.

COMMENT NOW