IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Subal Rai is 48 year old. A resident of Salbari chit number 37, an Indian enclave in Bangladesh, he fled to the Indian mainland. He was driven out from the village about ten years back. “We spent countless sleepless nights. Sometimes I took my children and wife to the agricultural field for a safe shelter as looting and rapes are regular occurrences in the enclaves. We had to hide our daughters and wives from the Bangladeshi miscreants. They would come and take away my crops in broad daylight, they would steal my cattle too. Then I took a decision to leave my own land and home. Those miscreants occupied my five acres of land. But the strange thing is that we are identified here as Bangladeshis or illegal migrants. Can you imagine that,” asks an aggrieved Subal.
Subal is not alone. Kanai Rai from Kajal Dighi chit, Chandmoni Rai from Kotbhajni chit, Chuni Rai from Khagrabari chit, Anarul Haque and Matiur Rahaman from Najirganj chit are among tens of thousands of Indian people who migrated from the Indian enclaves to the mainland. As per an Oxfam report, 50,000 people came to the Indian mainland after being evicted from the enclaves.
In the enclaves, most dwellers were agriculturists. After migrating to the Indian mainland, they have become daily wage earners. Thousands of such families live along the Teesta river canal in the districts of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal. Most work as stone crushers on the river bed and earn very little.
Naren Rai is 56 and from the same enclave as Subal. He left for India in 1992. He is not at all surprised by the Garati incident. “This Garati incident is nothing new. We, the people from the enclaves, very well know the situation. Can you understand how painful it is to leave one's own home and own agricultural land? The day I left, Bangladeshi miscreants torched and vandalised our houses, we spent the night hiding in the fields. After that, they started looting the houses and raping the women. We, nearly 50 families, left our land and came to the mainland. For nearly three months, we lived on the platform of the Haldibari rail station. After that, I started to work as a daily wage labourer,” he lets out in one breath.
“We want voting rights, we want recognition as Indians,” says Sukhen Buskey who migrated from the Sakati chit in 1973. Till date, he has no ration card. Like other people who migrated from the enclaves, he has his land certificate from the Cooch Behar district administration as proof but is still not considered as Indian.
“From time to time, there has been an influx of residents of Indian enclaves into the Indian mainland. We refer to them as oustees who are deprived of all rights even though they no longer live in the enclaves,” said Arindam K. Sen, chairperson of APRICRO (Association for Protection of Citizen’s Rights for Indian Chitmahal Residents and Oustees), an organisation fighting for the rights of the chitmahal people.
Sen points out the destitution the oustees face and rampant police harassment. The organisation has repeatedly appealed to the Centre and the West Bengal government to empower these people with their due rights. But they have never received anything in reply.
Professor Partha Pratim Basu, professor of international relations at Jadavpur University, sounds out the red herring. He says, “These people are the victims of international politics. India should solve this problem in its own interest. If they are recognised as forced migrants, they will have to be accorded status of refugees and extended all benefits due to them. But the fact that they cross the international border complicates the situation and clouds their status. But the Indian government will have to classify them and provide them with a rehabilitation package. We have to remember that 50,000 was the number eight years back. In case we don't take stock now, the problem might grow to a different magnitude.”
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Subal Rai is 48 year old. A resident of Salbari chit number 37, an Indian enclave in Bangladesh, he fled to the Indian mainland. He was driven out from the village about ten years back. “We spent countless sleepless nights. Sometimes I took my children and wife to the agricultural field for a safe shelter as looting and rapes are regular occurrences in the enclaves. We had to hide our daughters and wives from the Bangladeshi miscreants. They would come and take away my crops in broad daylight, they would steal my cattle too. Then I took a decision to leave my own land and home. Those miscreants occupied my five acres of land. But the strange thing is that we are identified here as Bangladeshis or illegal migrants. Can you imagine that,” asks an aggrieved Subal.
Subal is not alone. Kanai Rai from Kajal Dighi chit, Chandmoni Rai from Kotbhajni chit, Chuni Rai from Khagrabari chit, Anarul Haque and Matiur Rahaman from Najirganj chit are among tens of thousands of Indian people who migrated from the Indian enclaves to the mainland. As per an Oxfam report, 50,000 people came to the Indian mainland after being evicted from the enclaves.
In the enclaves, most dwellers were agriculturists. After migrating to the Indian mainland, they have become daily wage earners. Thousands of such families live along the Teesta river canal in the districts of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal. Most work as stone crushers on the river bed and earn very little.
Naren Rai is 56 and from the same enclave as Subal. He left for India in 1992. He is not at all surprised by the Garati incident. “This Garati incident is nothing new. We, the people from the enclaves, very well know the situation. Can you understand how painful it is to leave one's own home and own agricultural land? The day I left, Bangladeshi miscreants torched and vandalised our houses, we spent the night hiding in the fields. After that, they started looting the houses and raping the women. We, nearly 50 families, left our land and came to the mainland. For nearly three months, we lived on the platform of the Haldibari rail station. After that, I started to work as a daily wage labourer,” he lets out in one breath.
“We want voting rights, we want recognition as Indians,” says Sukhen Buskey who migrated from the Sakati chit in 1973. Till date, he has no ration card. Like other people who migrated from the enclaves, he has his land certificate from the Cooch Behar district administration as proof but is still not considered as Indian.
“From time to time, there has been an influx of residents of Indian enclaves into the Indian mainland. We refer to them as oustees who are deprived of all rights even though they no longer live in the enclaves,” said Arindam K. Sen, chairperson of APRICRO (Association for Protection of Citizen’s Rights for Indian Chitmahal Residents and Oustees), an organisation fighting for the rights of the chitmahal people.
Sen points out the destitution the oustees face and rampant police harassment. The organisation has repeatedly appealed to the Centre and the West Bengal government to empower these people with their due rights. But they have never received anything in reply.
Professor Partha Pratim Basu, professor of international relations at Jadavpur University, sounds out the red herring. He says, “These people are the victims of international politics. India should solve this problem in its own interest. If they are recognised as forced migrants, they will have to be accorded status of refugees and extended all benefits due to them. But the fact that they cross the international border complicates the situation and clouds their status. But the Indian government will have to classify them and provide them with a rehabilitation package. We have to remember that 50,000 was the number eight years back. In case we don't take stock now, the problem might grow to a different magnitude.”
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Pakistani Soldiers Killed in Border Fighting
ABN AMRO seeks India bank licence
IIPM announces Anna Hazare Fellowship
GIDF Club of IIPM Lucknow Organizes Blood Donation Camp
Mobile application for Nokia phones is launched by The Times of India
Watching porn video is not a crime
Why your wife or girlfriend seems "off sex" of late?
A Healthcare Issue: Private hospitals' efficiency questioned
Domestic violence has been a silent relationship killer since time immemorial.
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
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