M M Jasim :
They got freedom ‘freedom of speech, freedom of walk and freedom to live.’ They got identity. Their dream has been fulfilled, as they wanted to be Bangladeshi. They have been emancipated from the enclave life. To mark the day they hoisted Bangladesh Flag with much enthusiasm on Saturday.
From now the word ‘enclave’ will be found in the books of history. It also erased from the map. The people celebrated the day with joy and festive mood keeping all the works in rest. The people will get all the facilities of an independent country like the other citizen of Bangladesh.
The two next-door neighbours (Bangladesh and India) exchanged enclaves on 1st moment of Saturday bringing an end to the 68-year statelessness of thousands of people as part of the process of implementing the historic Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) of 1974.
Official sources said, with the execution of LBA signed by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Indira Gandhi, all Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh became land of Bangladesh,
while Bangladeshi enclaves inside India is now considered Indian land from Friday midnight.
Dwellers of 111 Indian enclaves inside Bangladeshi territory, except who wished to be Indian citizens, will be provided Bangladeshi citizenship while dwellers of 51 Bangladeshi enclaves inside Indian land will be considered as Indian citizens.
The movement of people would take place between November 1 and 30 and both the governments would ensure safe, orderly and secure passage for the movement to the mainland, Foreign Ministry officials said.
The residents of the enclaves, including children, women and elderly persons, were in a festive mood as they are going to get their new identity as citizens of Bangladesh. Candles lighting, sweetmeats exchanging and rallies, cultural functions and sports took place at the enclaves marking the exchange.
The dwellers of Garati enclave in Sadar Upazila of Panchagarh district celebrated the historic swap of enclaves with India by hoisting the Bangladeshi national flag with the sunrise on Saturday morning.
The National Flag was hoisted in Forkania Madrassa playground in Panchagarh sadar upazila at 6:00am.
Mohammad Shamsul Alam, Acting Deputy Commissioner of Panchagarh, Giasuddin Ahmed, Superintendent of Police of the district, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Laila Muntajery Deena and Mafizar Rahman, Panchagarh-Nilphamari District unit President of Bangladesh-India Enclave Swap Committee, among others, were present at the ceremony.
Besides, the enclave dwellers also sang the national anthem ‘Amar Sonar Bangla ami tomai bhalobashi’ during the celebration.
There are 20,071 people in 36 enclaves in the district. Of them, 512 people have registered their names to go to India.
“We deprived of all health, medical, education, employment and other facilities for the past seven decades. Now, from August 1, we will never face such problems,” said Haider Ali Sumon, 25, son of Abdul Gony of the Indian enclave Banshkata, inside Patgram of Lalmonirhat.
“We can go to hospitals now,” he said. “We will find jobs. We will not have to go to India in search of work,” he said.
Earlier, the Bangladeshi national flag was hoisted in the morning at Dashiarchhara enclave in Phulbari Upazila of Kurigram and Bhitorkuti enclave of Lalmonirhat, marking the historic day.
Thousands of people joined the flag hoisting ceremony. They also lighted 68 candles.
Special munajats were offered at nine mosques in Dashiarchhara enclave after Juma prayers while special prayers were arranged at six temples in the enclave.
A boat race was also arranged in the Nil Komol River flowing through the west side of the enclave. Hundreds of people enjoyed the boat race from both banks of the river. Besides, a stick game was held at Kamalpur village.
A victory celebration started at Kalihat Bazar at midnight on Friday.
However, Indian flag was kept half-mast at Mashaldanga enclave inside the Indian Territory following the death of Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam.
The High Commissioners of Bangladesh and India on Thursday signed 30 boundary strip maps in Dhaka.
Under the Land Boundary Agreement, India will exchange 111 enclaves measuring 17,160 acres to Bangladesh and receive 51 enclaves covering 7,110 acres.
More than 51,000 people reside in these enclaves.
There are 111 Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh – 12 in Kurigram, 59 in Lalmonirhat, four in Nilphamari and 36 in Panchagarh whereas all 51 Bangladeshi enclaves are located in Cooch Behar of India.
On June 6, Bangladesh and India signed and exchanged the historic instruments of ratification on Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) formalising the long-pending issue between the two countries.
It may be mentioned that there is no dispute over the Dahogram and Angarpota enclave as the enclave is the part of Bangladesh.
