The long-standing border dispute between India and Bangladesh may have been settled with the signing of a land swapping protocol between the two countries but hardship of hundreds of Indian citizens living in villages located across barbed fencing is far from getting over in Karimganj sector of Assam. It is not that the government is not aware about the violation of constitutional and human rights of these Indian families spending their lives in between border pillar and barbed fencing where they are allowed to come out of their respective homes during the day time only.
They are not only deprived of basic amenities like electricity, school and drinking water but also left at the mercy of Bangladeshi nationals. Altaf Hussain, a resident of Lafasil village, does not know that Article 19 of the Indian Constitution grants him rights like any other Indian citizen to move freely across the country but he pleads that their villages should be shifted across the fencing so that they can spend a peaceful and respectful life.
According to the records available with the BSF, of the Indian villages located across the fencing, North Lafasil village has a population of 342, Jharapata has 300, Lafapondi 71 and Govindapur village has population of 229. The inspector-general of BSF in Karmganj-Mizoram sector M.L. Batham admitted that villagers living across the fencing are facing hardship but due to security reasons they are left with limited options.
“We also want them to be shifted inside fencing but it was not in our hand,” he says clarifying that the BSF was always there to look after these villagers in case of any emergency. The BSF has taken up the issue with the state administration on several occasions as shifting of these villages inside the fencing will improve border management to a great extent. The plight of villagers is largely due to the ignorance of the state administration as similar problems occurred in Tripura but the issue was settled by shifting the population to newer locations.
Sundar Ali, another villager, told this newspaper, “We are locked away from our own country for 12 hours a day and it seems that we are in a jail. Some of the people come out from their villages in the morning to go in search of jobs as daily wage labourers but they have to return home before 6 pm.” He also regrets that their relatives don’t visit them even during the festival time as for every individual visiting them, they need to get permission from the BSF, which is tedious. Asked about group of children playing in orchard, Sundar Ali says, “There is no school so they are compelled to remain uneducated like us. As soon as they achieve an age of 15 years, they will start going for work as labourers.”
“There is no electricity in the village and for drinking water, we have to depend on water from the Kuchiara river,” says Sundar Ali. He also admitted that their nationality is also doubted by security agency as situation compels them to spend more time with Bangladesh citizens. The BSF officers in the field also confessed that such villages are vulnerable to forces hostile to India. If school is far off from the village, the nearest hospital is at the distance of about 20 km from Lafasil village. Every night the Indian villagers are at the mercy of the Bangladeshi nationals as the Bangladeshi villages are located side-by-side Lafasil.
Even if they are subjected to harassment, they cannot flee to the Indian side as barbed fencing stop them from crossing over for protection. The government has left them on their fate and political leaders visit them only during the elections.
The local district administration rarely visits the village. The villagers, mostly poor families living in thatched houses, are also deprived of government schemes.
The villagers watch every visitor to the village with a ray of hope and explain their plight in anticipation that he will act as their messenger to the government.