ENCLAVE DWELLERS' STIR

Hunger strike of enclave dwellers starts

In support of their three-point charter of demands sixteen persons including seven women started a 48-hour hunger strike since the zero-hour of Sunday. They selected this day for their movement as the Tinbigha corridor was handed over to Bangladesh on this day in 1992. The Bharat Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Co-ordination Committee is the organiser of the programme.

The hunger strike is going on at a Bangladeshi enclave named Mashaldanga. It is situated along Dinhata-Salmara road near Nazirhat in Dinhata sub-division. A large contingent of police personnel is keeping watch on the situation but they are standing on Indian soil, as Mashaldanga is a Bangladeshi enclave.

The three demands raised by the BBEECC are : a meeting of enclave dwellers with the chief minister over enclave exchange issue, release of enclave dwellers who are suffering in jails under 14-Foreigners Act and immediate measures to solve the enclave problems by exchange of enclaves of India and Bangladesh. 

Earlier, the BBEECC had submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate of Cooch Behar on Monday and conveyed her their decision over the proposed hunger strike.

Assistant secretary of BBEECC Mr Diptiman Sengupta said the handover of Tinbigha corridor was occurred twenty years ago on this day but the Nehru-Noon agreement (1958) and the Indira-Mujib agreement (1974) are yet to be implemented. It is known to all that the plight of enclave residents of India and Bangladesh may be ironed out by exchange of enclaves of the two neighbouring countries but that was not done till now. Now they have left with no alternative but organising a massive movement, he said.

Mr Sengupta said when they submitted the memorandum to the Cooch Behar DM she assured them that talks were going on over the enclave exchange issue between the state government and the Centre. But, the suffering people of enclaves cannot wait for an indefinite period, as they have no humane facilities like other citizens and so they started the hunger strike to draw attention of the authorities of both the countries, he said. PIX : SUMON MANDAL