Lok Sabha polls: Village on Bangladesh border faces identity crisis
Mashaldanga is one of the Bangladeshi enclaves scattered inside the Indian territories with an estimated population of 3,870 as per a joint Indo-Bangladesh census in 2011.
Md. Azgar Ali is a frail man caught in the India- Bangladesh enclave exchange tangle. The 104-year-old man is waiting to get an Indian identity as he still wishes to be a valid voter before he dies.
"We cultivate crops in the same land as our Indian brothers do. We breathe in the same air. But we are left out in this alien land by administrations of both the nations,"Ali said as he looked through the window of his nondescript house at Mashaldanga, a Bangladeshi enclave located about 20 km east of Cooch Behar's Dinhata sub- division.
Mashaldanga is one of the Bangladeshi enclaves scattered inside the Indian territories with an estimated population of 3,870 as per a joint Indo-Bangladesh census in 2011.
Ali said the residents of Bangladeshi enclaves on Indian soil are stuck in the territorial problem and have been deprived of basic facilities like electricity, food and water supply. " These lands are like free zones with no administrative control," he said.
There are about 51 Bangladeshi enclaves, surrounded by Indian territory with a population of about 14,355. Of them, 35 per cent are Indian voters with questionable identity and address proofs.
Similarly, 111 Indian enclaves are in Bangladesh with an approximate population of 37,304. These Indo- Bangladesh enclaves are also known as ' Chhitmahal' in Bengal. With Cooch Behar Lok Sabha constituency going to polls on April 17, in the first leg of fivephase general elections in West Bengal, thousands of enclave dwellers have decided to vote for the candidate who would raise the issue of Chhitmahal.
"We held a meeting within our community where we decided to vote for the candidate who had been proactive about the Chhitmahal issue. We want to be a part of India as we have been living on this side of the border for decades. We don't want to go to Bangladesh anymore," said Saddam Hossain, 22, a second year BA (Hons) student of Dinhata College. Hossain said he would vote for the first time on Thursday.
Last week West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee addressed a rally in Dinhata where she said her government would never impose anything on the residents of Chhitmahal. It came as a respite to the residents of Bangladeshi enclaves ahead of the polls.
"The residents of chhitmahals have been exploited by political parties again and again. These pockets have not been provided basic facilities by the Indian administration. But many of them have voter identity cards (with fake parents' name and address proofs)," said Abu Sayed Hossain of Indo- Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Coordination Committee.
The Bangladeshi chhitmahals fall under Cooch Behar seat that comprise seven Assembly constituencies with over 13.5 lakh voters. In 2009, the seat went to Forward Bloc candidate Nipendranath Roy.