Implement enclave exchange deal or face agitation
Warn people in Bangladesh enclaves
People living in Bangladesh enclaves inside India bring out a procession in Coochbehar town yesterday demanding immediate implementation of enclave exchange deal. Photo: STAR
People living in Bangladesh enclaves inside India submitted a memorandum to the chief minister of Paschimbanga yesterday demanding Indian citizenship and immediate implementation of Indo-Bangla enclave exchange accord. They went to Coochbehar district magistrate's office in a procession in the afternoon and submitted the memo to the chief minister through the district magistrate. Prior to marching towards the district magistrate's office, around 10,000 people gathered in Coochbehar Railway Station area and held a rally there. Organised by India-Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Coordination Committee, the rally was addressed, among others, by Somen Sen and Diptiman Sen Gupta, general secretary and assistant general secretary of the committee, Mofidar Rahman, chairman of Garati Enclave in Panchagarh, and Joy Prakash, chairman of Nazirganj Enclave in Panchagarh. The speakers demanded immediate implementation of the enclave exchange deal, signed in Dhaka in September last year, by February 21. Otherwise, they threatened to launch a tougher agitation programme. They also sought an appointment with Chief Minister Mamata Benerjee during her visit to Siliguri on February 10. Enclave people live in awful conditions amid lack of adequate employment opportunity, infrastructure, educational institutions, electricity and medical facilities, the speaker said. They demanded a definite timeframe to implement the enclave exchange deal. One hundred and eleven Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh are situated in Panchagarh, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Nilphamari districts while all 51 Bangladesh enclaves are in Indian Coochbehar district.
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