'Stateless' Chitmahals head for settlement

MEKHLIGANJ, Cooch Behar: On an idyllic drive under an overcast sky, through the hinterland of West Bengal's Cooch Behar district, lush green fields of paddy and jute, there is nothing to suggest that we may have, a moment ago, crossed a patch of 'foreign country'. "That's Bangladesh territory," the local guide explains, pointing towards a small cluster of thatched huts.
There are no boards or barbed wire fence to divide the two nations. "That's further ahead, near Mekhliganj," he says. And then it dawns on you that you are standing outside one of the 51 Bangladesh 'enclaves' within India.
For almost 60 years, the peculiar phenomenon of these enclaves has confounded everyone on both sides of the India-Bangladesh border. In the Cooch Behar district administration records, there is no document to explain how certain pockets of land and its people inside Indian territory came to be ruled by present-day Bangladesh, and vice versa. Popular folklore, however, attributes the phenomenon to battles of chess between the then rulers of Cooch Behar and Rangpur (in present day Bangladesh), two centuries ago, purely for fun or in a bid to augment their territories without having to fight a bloody war.
The 'chits', or slips of papers with names of villages written on them, which the two used as pawns to win each other's land, now constitute a befuddling diagram not only on the physical map of the two nations, but also in the minds of policy makers on both sides. Known as 'Chitmahals', the enclaves have been virtual prisons for their inhabitants, with their respective countries unable to access or administer them. Communal tension often flared in the past, leading to mass, illegal migrations across borders.
Today, if the enclave residents here approach a shop across the road in Indian territory to buy a handful of sugar, it constitutes "illegal foray into foreign land".
However, the Land Boundary Agreement between the two countries has brought a dramatic change In mood. "For long, we have led a 'non-existent' life, often been branded criminals, have forgone basic necessities like food, health and education. But now, Indian nationality will ensure our rights," says Jagdish Adhikari, a resident of Mirgipur Chit, about 1km from Mekhliganj. Officials estimate that 95% of Bangladeshi enclave residents are Hindus, so the transfer won't see any trouble or large-scale migration.
In the Teen Bigha corridor, 10km away, Md Muktsar Rehman, a resident of Bhaskata — an Indian enclave in Bangladesh — is also upbeat about gaining Bangladeshi nationality. "I have 40 bigha land there and I call it my home. Why should I leave my home," asks the farmer. His village has five Hindu families. He says he doesn't know if they want to migrate.
The transfer of enclaves, for Mirgipur residents, means freedom from fraudulently obtaining Indian identity proof. Many have voter cards and even NREGA job cards. "Indian schools do not admit our children, neither do hospitals take our patients because we are Bangladeshi. We have obtained identity documents by buying and selling land outside the enclave and registering them in India," a resident revealed.
Senior district officials ignore these activities on humanitarian grounds. "It's no fault of theirs that they are leading this existence," says an official. At times, pregnant women have to give the name of Indian acquaintances as the father in order to gain admission to hospital. The child ends up having someone else's name as his/her father on the birth certificate for life. "This is a human tragedy," admitted the official.
For now, district authorities are preparing for flurry of surveys, headcounts and identification of surplus land in order to grant Indian citizenship to Bangladeshi enclave dwellers. They also expect some migration from Indian enclaves in Bangladesh where about 150 Hindu families reside. "We are awaiting executive notification to start this exercise, " said Cooch Behar district magistrate P Ulugnathan.