Enclave people celebrating end of captive life

Lalmonirhat Correspondent:  People of 36 enclaves under the district’s Patgram upazila are celebrating the inclusion with Bangladesh through implementation of historic Land Boundary Agreement (LBA).

The enclave residents have taken various programmes to celebrate the end of their captive life. People of 36 enclaves came in the Patgram upazila ground with a procession on Saturday morning.

Expressing their joys, the ‘new citizens of Bangladesh’ say they want advantages of education, health care and other benefits as citizens of Bangladesh and want to contribute to the development of the country.

Bangladesh and India swapped tiny islands of land at the wee hours of Saturday (August 1) with the view to ending one of the world’s most intractable border disputes that had kept thousands of people in stateless limbo for 68 years.

Official sources said with the execution of LBA signed by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Indira Gandhi, dwellers of 111 Indian enclaves inside Bangladeshi land, 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 historic Land Boundary Agreement between Bangladesh and India was signed by Bangabandhu Shiekh Mujibur Rahman and Srimati Indira Gandhi in 1974.

The Indian Lok Sabha finally passed constitution amendment bill on LBA with Bangladesh to settle the long boundary disputes with the country on May 7 this year.

On June 6, Bangladesh and India signed and exchanged the historic instruments of ratification on LBA.

risingbd/ Lalmonirhat/ Aug 1, 2015/ Moazzem Hossain/ Mukul