Dec 04 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)
How to Settle The Bengal Borderland
A Parliamentary committee has decided to pluck out a thorn in the flesh of India-Bangladesh ties since Independence: the singular matter of `enclaves' or `chhitmahals' on our eastern frontier. This is good news. It is common wisdom that when the subcontinent was Partitioned by Cyril Radcliffe in three weeks in 1947, it split into two nations: India and Pakistan.About 40% of the territory belonging to princely states, was left untouched. Actually , India was split into 199 segments: India, Pakistan and 197 enclaves -territories controlled by Pakistan or India, but located inside the others' territorial boundaries. All are on our eastern border: there are 73 Bangladeshi enclaves in India and 123 Indian ones in Bangladesh. None is administered by the host government. After all, why should India offer water, power, schools or civic amenities to territory that belongs to Bangladesh, and vice versa?
In 1974, Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Mujibur Rahman signed an agreement, allowing for each nation to absorb the enclaves within its jurisdiction and give residents the choice of whether to stay or migrate. Nothing came of this. In 2011, Manmohan Singh and Sheikh Hasina decided to resolve the issue, but steadfast opposition from the BJP and Bengal's new Trinamool Congress government stumped their efforts.In power now in New Delhi, the BJP has done a U-turn and favours signing the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) to resolve the enclaves issue. But its Bengal unit is still deeply opposed to such a settlement. The TMC, which has blocked every rapprochement with Bangladesh, including the Teesta waters agreement, will also dig its heels in. But the LBA is necessary to alleviate the suffering of nearly 150,000 people who live there and boost India-Bangladesh ties. Sign it now.
In 1974, Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Mujibur Rahman signed an agreement, allowing for each nation to absorb the enclaves within its jurisdiction and give residents the choice of whether to stay or migrate. Nothing came of this. In 2011, Manmohan Singh and Sheikh Hasina decided to resolve the issue, but steadfast opposition from the BJP and Bengal's new Trinamool Congress government stumped their efforts.In power now in New Delhi, the BJP has done a U-turn and favours signing the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) to resolve the enclaves issue. But its Bengal unit is still deeply opposed to such a settlement. The TMC, which has blocked every rapprochement with Bangladesh, including the Teesta waters agreement, will also dig its heels in. But the LBA is necessary to alleviate the suffering of nearly 150,000 people who live there and boost India-Bangladesh ties. Sign it now.
