Government Of India’s Indifferent Attitude Led Some Lands Landlocked In Bangladesh SAGA OF UNHEEDED ISLAND WITHIN LAND SHIB SHANKAR CHATTERJEE Case Study Number – A : “….. Look, in the enclaves, forcible occupation is a common incident and it occurs off and on. So, it is difficult to keep either any landed property or the crops of the field under control. Especially in my case, I can say, I was a permanent inhabitant of the chhitmahal, Kote-Bhajni. I had inherited 128 Bighas of land from my father. But, I could not enjoy those landed property due to forceful occupation, robbery and plundering. Once in a winter morning of 1979, one Mr. Ataur Hussain, a well to do landlord of nearby Bangladeshi village appeared before our door along with 14 to 15 Gunda (that is, ruffian or hooligan)s with traditional sharpen weapons and asked me to vacate the land immediately. Seeing this, some village people also came there to enjoy the ‘game’. Upon enquiry, he told me that I had sold the land and property to him in 4/5 installments. To prove in fact, he showed a registered notebook or document, which was registered in the Haldibari Sub-Register Office under Jalpaigguri district in North-Bengal areas of the Indian State, West Bengal. The incident unnerved me and I totally forgot to utter a word. The inhabitants in and around our house also got terrified with the incident and they too dared not to tell anything. I did never go to Haldibari except once in my childhood and that too to pay a visit to the local ethnic fair of Hajur. I went there (my ancestral house) in a body along with several people of our village. However, nobody put any resistance to that illegal attack and occupation and thus we were driven out from of our landed property. I lost my paddy-land, house and property. After that, I went to Mekhliganj (under Jalpaigguri district in North-Bengal areas of the Indian State, West Bengal) along with the members of my family and took shelter in one our relative’s house. I could not bring anything with us except a few ornaments. My family consisted of six members, my wife, three sons, one daughter and I myself. Our days began to pass in great hardship. In the meantime, I sold my wife’s ornaments, which she got during our marriage time and filed a suit against Mr. A. Hussain and his forcible occupation of our land and property in the Mekhliganj Sub-divisional court. It was but a cheating case. The suit continued for last three years and at last, I won victory. But, yet I could not occupy my land and property. My wife had died. My younger son is a daily-labour, elder son is a Rikshawala (that is, Rikshaw-puller) and I can’t say, what does my second son do. Anyway, my present address is the camp erected by Public Work Department (PWD) Road near Deshbandhu Colony and my business is to make Kagojer-Thonga (that is, paper-bag) …..”, reminiscences septuagenarian Umesh Rai Barman of Kote-Bhajni Chhitmahal under Haldibari Police Station (PS) of Jalpaiguri district in North-Bengal areas of the Indian State, West Bengal. Case Study Number – B : “….. It was the day for the celebration of my marriage. The Bangladeshi PS, Debigonj, under Panchagarh district is just beside my house. The Officer-in-Charge (OC) of that PS along with 15/16 Police personnel suddenly attacked us with guns in hand and musk on faces with a view to robbing of our property. Seeing this, a few guests of our village fled away. But, the rest of the guests and family members beat right and left by their sticks and the hilts of guns, bound us with the rope and at last kept confined in a room and then started plundering our belongings (including some valuable articles, which were bought for marriage purpose). I stood motionless and stunned. Truly speaking, we had to live upon threat. We could not eat, drink and sleep peacefully even, for a day. The Muslims often harassed us and our women almost everyday dishonoured and sexually and physically abused them, which compelled us to loss our patience. Therefore, at last we had come here leaving all we had. Here, we maintain our livelihood in great hardship, breaking stone, working as daily labour or other such unworthy jobs. Although, all these works may not offer happiness but peace at home. As a result, we can at least sleep unprovoked and save the chastity of our daughters, wives and mothers, et cetera. But, the question of justice was always beyond expectation. Yet, if we would lodge any complain against any robbery or theft, nothing could happen. On the contrary, oppression or harassment of those people would renew …..”, regretted 55-years-old Keshab Deb Singha of (01 Number) Dahala Khagrabari Chhitmahal under Haldibari Police Station (PS) of Jalpaiguri district in North-Bengal areas of the Indian State, West Bengal. Case Study Number – C : “….. I think, especially the women of the Indian Chhitmahals always live in great peril. The ladies from minimum 10-years to maximum 50-years have no freedom to go or move out of the door without the permission of the elders and yet many a time, they cannot preserve their honour. Lack of security and oppression of the unwanted persons always haunted them. Even everyday, after sunset every women, whether a girl of teenage, young or aged are require to hit out a plan to protect herself 1 either behind the bush or dig a hole et cetera from the harassment of the Bangladeshi miscreants. Nobody cannot sleep at night peacefully. These anti-social miscreants always pass some abusive remarks at our women class. Not only that but they also threatened to kill us. Apart from this, even, at the daytime, when the male heads are out of the doors, these wicked Bangladeshi people stealthily enter our hoses and harass our women. All these things, I myself have seen in my own eyes. The senseless men off and on attack our women, whether old and young; rape and then kill them in order to hush up the incident. The men, who commit these sins, are very intimate to us. At day, they call our women – sisters, mothers, paternal aunts, maternal aunts, Boudi (wife of elder brother)s et cetera by name. But, at night they do these heinous deeds before the eyes of our family members and the Police of Bangladesh, who are posted to guard them. 90% (percent) these types of works are happened at night. When we went to the nearby Bangladesh Police Station (PS) to lodge First Information Report (FIR), the Officer in Charge (OC) flatly denied to accept the charge and drove us. Even, the people of our place are given in early marriage of women in the age of 12 to 13, for fear harassment by the Muslim people. So, ladies from 10 years to 50 years dare not to move out of the doors. Always a fearful situation prevails in our areas. Nobody can do anything due to their threats and it is not possible to keep the chastity of our women and girls. Tell me, what can we do …..”, questioned Sabitree Barman (45) of (01 Number) Dahala Khagrabari Chhitmahal, who was forced to leave her Chhitmahal. Case Study Number – D : “….. Fear always haunted our village people and me. So, our village people and I get afraid of going to Saptahik-haat (that is, weekly-market), especially the market of town areas, which hold at a distance. People living there threaten us in various ways and ask not to go there. But, even, if we go to market, they compel to pay various ‘taxes’ or subscriptions forcibly. Not only that, we never get actual price for the crops we sell and are compelled to sell them at a lower rate of price. Sometimes, they snatch our crops if we do not give them at their price, which they fix. Apart from this, it is very impossible to keep crops standing in the field. Rubbing or stealing of crops often takes place at any time, whether at noon or at night. The looters come with firearms or ethnic sharpen weapons (like Dao, Hansuli, Kaachi, Hann, Bhojali et cetera). For example, we can say, once one of our men went to prevent them with five to six young men but in vain. The looters killed them in the paddy field. We have no gun and this has made us helpless …..”, described with full of anxiety Khoka Orano (30) of Haldibari PS, who moved in 1972. Case Study Number – E : “….. the fact is that the Indian enclaves are but small ‘land-island’ and these enclaves are surrounded by Bangladesh country and the officials of Indian Government, Non-Government Organization (NGO)s, political, non-political leaders et cetera cannot come here easily of freely. This is why; there is very little scope for the growth and development in the socio-economic spheres. As a result, generation after generation has plunged into the darkness of prosperity of any kind. In a word, we can say, these areas are kept quite isolated from the mainland. So, how can the people of these (Indian enclaves) areas prosper in the socio-economic spheres? Astonishing fact is that the Road & Transport System has paralyzed, tottering condition of Drinking Water System, absent of Electrification System and Post & Telecommunication System and bad Sanitary System et cetera that have smashed the lifeline of the inhabitants of the Indian enclaves.