End of a long wait for Dashiar Charra people
FAISAL MAHMUD from Kurigram
For people like Mozaffor Hossain, Justice had long been nothing but a seven letter meaningless word.
Growing up in Dashiar Charra, one of the largest Indian enclaves inside Bangladeshi borderline, hardship was something that he was born and brought up with, like other 9000 nowhere people residing in this 1943 acre land officially belonging to India used to face just a few months ago.
When my father was murdered in 1998 by a group of thugs, neither India nor Bangladesh allowed me to file a case. Indian border has been closed for us for the last 10 years and I didnt have any official documents of Bangladesh. I had to live with injustice for these years, Hossain told this correspondent sitting at a tea stall at Dashiar Charra bazar.
The Dashiar Charra bazar meanwhile wore a festive look with countless banners and festoons. Right beside the tea stall where we had our conversation, a large temporary gate made of bamboo and white banners stood tall.
That was one of over 600 such temporary gates, constructed almost every 300-400 meters apart across the 30 km stretch of road that go through Kurigram Sadar to Dashiar Charra via Nageswari-Fulbari-Gangarhaat road.
Every banner placed perpendicularly in those gates welcomed the historic arrival of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dashiar Charra today.
From Dashiar Charra, we have constructed 40 gates
with our own money. No one, I mean no political leaders here had asked for money to construct those. We did that spontaneously to show our love and gratitude to our beloved Prime Minister.
Hossain said in August 1, when the long-awaited implementation of the 1974 Bangladesh-India LBA was completed, they lit 68 candles, burned 68 firecrackers and arranged for a night-long cultural program to mark the end of their 68-year wait for citizenship.
It was a long awaited winning moment for us. Now, we are part of a nation, and a map. Our forefathers have waited for this moment for so long, but couldnt see it happen in their lifetime, Hossain, who also act as the Secretary of Dashiar Charra part of Bangladesh-India enclave exchange committee told this correspondent.
Every 111 former Indian exclave inside Bangladesh which became a part of Bangladesh after the historic Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves which became a part of India has one of such committee to conduct a coordinated movement, Hossain informed.
Explaining about the movement Hossain said, It was a movement for our identity. We have been deprived of basic human rights since 1947. We didnt have any identity.
He said that movement was started in Bangladeshi enclaves in India back in 1994. Strangely an Indian citizen named Deepak Sengupta started that movement which was later conducted by his son Deeptiman Sengupta, he said.
Here in Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh, the movement also started to spread and from 2002, we had formed committee in each of the 111 enclaves, he added.
There was no option for us but to go for a movement. We had no birth registration here. Our sons and daughters had to enroll in schools in Bangladesh or Indian part through fake identities. It was a life without any sense of honor, he said.
