The impact of Land Boundary Agreement, 2015

On a fine morning, a country had been divided into two parts just due to political and religious interest of few people, intersecting innocent hearts of a small section of marginal people, resulting in creation of a porous border which already snatched their childhood days, their adolescent emotions, their youth courage and even their old age peaces making them isolated ‘enclaves’ people’ only. Till just one and half years back, there were some flakes of land in independent India and Bangladesh, where country’s independence defined its people in a different tone, resulting in creation of a separate class of ‘stateless people’ within these two neibouring countries.  Although these people had no doubt about their own nationality; although they themselves were not at all responsible for their shocking fate; yet they were forced to live in ‘no-man’s land’ as ‘nowhere people’ till 67 years after India’s independence just due to ridicule of historical and political destiny. 
Enclave or exclave (Chhitmahal in Bengali) means a portion of territory of one country completely surrounded by the territory of another country. 
As per Report of the India-Bangladesh Joint Field Inspection, 1996, 111 exchangeable Indian Enclaves inside Bangladesh and 51 exchangeable Bangladeshi Enclaves inside India had been identified. These included a few ‘2nd-order enclaves’ or ‘counter-enclave’ (i.e. enclave within an enclave) as well as a ‘3rd-order enclave’ or ‘counter-counter enclave’ (i.e. a Bangladeshi enclave surrounded by an Indian enclave, which itself surrounded by another Bangladeshi enclave). In India, all these splinters of Bangladesh were situated in the District of Coochbehar of the State of West Bengal. On the other hand, in Bangladesh, these flakes of India were located in four Districts under its Rangpur Division, of which 59 were in Lalmonirhat District, 36 were in Ponchogarh District, 12 were in Kurigram District and 4 were in Nilphamari District. As per the Press Release of the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, in November, 2015, all these 162 enclaves contained a total population of 53,384. 
History of enclaves contains a long tail, when Shahjahan was the Mughal Emperor and Raja Prananarayana was the King of Coochbehar Estate. Raja Prananarayana occupied certain portion of lands within the Mughal Empire by defeating Mughals. Thus, the King of Coochbehar ruled over some portion of lands which were completely surrounded by lands belonging to the Mughal Empire. Similarly Mughals also wrested some portion within the Coochbehar Estate which later came under the control of the Maharaja of Rangpur. So, these lands were geographically separated from the Cooch Behar and Rangpur estate, ruled by one emperor within the geographical jurisdictions of the other estate. In this context, some opine otherwise. According to an unverified popular legend, these slivers of land were used as stakes in card or chess games or other gambling centuries ago between two regional kings, the Raja of Cooch Behar and the Maharaja of Rangpur. The erstwhile Indian enclaves that now lie inside Bangladesh were once the property of the Raja of Coochbehar before India’s independence. On the other hand, erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves that now lie inside India were once the property of the Maharaja of Rangpur prior to India’s independence. As per historical records, such little territories were apparently the result of a confused outcome of a 1713 treaty between the Kingdom of Coochbehar and the Mughal Empire. As a consequence, possibly the war between these two estates had been packed up without determining any specific boundary for some places that had been gained or lost. Later on, formation of these splinters of lands in neibouring country is the consequence of the historical partition of India in 1947. According to Urvashi Butalia, “In 1947, when the British finally left India after almost two centuries, they created two countries, India and Pakistan, out of one. In order to partition the country, they brought in a lawyer, Cyril Radcliffe, to demarcate the boundary between India and what was to become Pakistan, who demarcated the India-Pakistan border in straight lines cutting across territories”. The fact that the two states of Coochbehar and Rangpur chose not to join either India or Pakistan at the time of Independence also played a significant role in the process of creation of these enclaves. In 1949, Cooch Behar joined India and in 1952, Rangpur chose to be part of Pakistan. In the mean time, these two estates had been conquering each other's territories and thus, made the situation more complicated. The combined effect of all these resulted in creation of enclaves of India inside Bangladesh and vice-versa.
The endeavour to "de-enclave" these enclaves of both the countries was firstly manifested in 1958 Agreement (Nehru-Noon Agreement) for exchange of enclaves between India and the then Pakistan, but the matter then hanged for a Supreme Court case in India. With reference to the said 1958 agreement, negotiations were restarted after East Pakistan became an independent country as Bangladesh in 1971. In 1974, soon after the independence of Bangladesh, the Indira-Mujib Treaty of Friendship was supposed to address all kinds of land border disputes between Bangladesh and India, who shared a 4,096.7 kms long porous border, including exchange of enclaves between the two countries. Both countries were able to conclude the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), 1974 (Indira-Mujib Agreement) to find out an ultimate resolution to this complex nature of border demarcation except for the three outstanding issues pertaining to : (i) Exchange of enclaves; (ii) Settlement of adverse possession; (iii) Undemarcated land boundary of approximately 6.1 kms. in three sectors, viz. Daikhata-56 in West Bengal, Muhuri River–Belonia in Tripura and Lathitila-Dumabari in Assam.
As a consequence of LBA, 1974 between India and Bangladesh, India was supposed to hand over the sovereignty of the Tin Bigha Corridor, a strip of Indian land covering an area of 178 by 85 metres (584 ft × 279 ft) and  thereby allowing access to the Dahagram–Angarpota Bangladeshi twin enclave. On the other hand, Bangladesh was to hand over the South Berubari covering an area of 7.39 sq. kms. (2.85 sq mi). 
Bangladesh duly handed over the sovereignty of the South Berubari to India instantly in 1974. India, however, could not lease out the Tin Bigha Corridor to Bangladesh till 1992, as it required constitutional amendment which could not be done due to political reasons in India. Finally on 26th June, 1992, as a counterpart of the 1974 LBA package, the Tin Bigha Corridor had been leased out by India in perpetuity to Bangladesh, giving her access to its Dahagram-Angorpota Enclave in order to enable her to exercise sovereignty on this twin enclave

The exchange of enclaves redrawing of the international boundary, India required a constitutional amendment according to Article 368 of its Constitution. Although Bangladesh ratified said agreement, but then India failed to pass necessary constitutional amendment to its Parliament to ratify said agreement. In September, 2011, Governments of India and Bangladesh announced, by virtue of Monomohan-Hasina Land Boundary Agreement, an intention to resolve enclaves issue by means of swapping 162 enclaves, giving residents a choice of nationality.  In India, the Constitution (One Hundred and Nineteenth) Amendment Bill, 2013 put forward to give effect to this proposed land exchange. But India again failed to pass necessary constitutional amendment to its Parliament to ratify said agreement. 
After several postponements and delay in settlement of the destiny of the poor people of these enclaves, their miserable saga of long almost seven decades seemed to come to an end when India ratified the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh by its 119th constitutional amendment in May 2015 in both the houses of its Parliament. Immediately thereafter, aforesaid 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh (covering an area of 17,160.63 acres) and 51 exchangeable Bangladeshi enclaves in India (covering an area of 7,110.02 acres) had been exchanged between the two countries by virtue of historic Land Boundary agreement (LBA) accorded between the Govt. of Republic of India and the Govt. of Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh on 6th June, 2015. As per LBA, 2015, 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh henceforth be considered as own lands of Bangladesh; whereas 51 exchangeable Bangladeshi enclaves in India henceforth be considered as own lands of India. Accordingly, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in India and 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh were physically transferred to the other country with effect from the midnight of 31 July 2015. Thus, India received 7,110.02 acres of Bangladeshi enclaves’ land from Bangladesh; whereas it transferred 17,160.63 acres Indian enclaves’ land to Bangladesh. Such exchange of lands is basically a switch from a de-facto situation to a de-jure one, since these enclaves were already under geographical jurisdictions of both the countries. By virtue of LBA Protocol, people residing in these enclaves were free to choose their citizenship as per their own will. If they decided to stay in their birth soil by altering their citizenship (e.g. if a person of Indian enclave in Bangladesh opted to stay in Bangladesh as a Bangladeshi Citizen), they would get all benefits of citizenship of the concerned state where they opted to stay. Conversely, if they wished to migrate themselves into their mother state (e.g. if a person of Indian enclave in Bangladesh opted to migrate in Indian mainland), they would also get all benefits of citizenship of the concerned mother state in the mainland. The concerned mother state would offer adequate rehabilitation packages to such migrated people in its mainland. It had been highly expected from all the corners that this long overdue exchange would improve the lives of all those residents of enclaves in either sides of the border who, by an unfortunate twist of fate, had been living without any national identity and without enjoying or ever knowing the quality of livlihood enjoyed by their neighbours living just around these enclaves.  
In June, 2016, after implementation of Land Boundary Agreement, 2015, I personally visited twenty three erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves within India along with my other three team members and interacted with 328 persons of different ages residing at different erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves consisting of 203 male and 125 female inhabitants. During said field survey, it had been observed that people of erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves duly got their Voter ID Card and Aadhar Card in support of their Identity as Indian Citizen after implementation of LBA, 2015, between India and Bangladesh, but no other basic problems of erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves have yet been resolved. No infrastructural developmental works within these enclaves have been initiated so far. Two major problematic issues of the erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves’ people have been identified during said field survey. First and foremost identified problem that they are still facing with is settlement of their lands within these erstwhile enclaves. A large number of enclave dwellers anxiously brought the issue of their land settlement before us when we interacted with them during said field survey. We scrutinized that many enclave dwellers didn’t possess the original title deeds of their lands issued by Bangladesh Land Settlement Authority, although all these lands were under their possessions. During long 67 years of their exiled life in enclaves, many original land deed holders already sold out their lands to other enclaves’ dwellers on the basis of mutual written agreement just on a white paper. Accordingly, such transferee land occupiers do not possess original title deeds of lands in their name, although they are occupying such lands for a number of years after such transfer took place with consideration. Now, big question is that whether such mutual written agreement just on a white paper would be considered or not at the time of disposal of land records and settlements by the Govt. of India. Enclave dwellers are really afraid about settlement of their land issue, which is the only source of generating economic resources of most of enclaves’ people till date. Second important identified problem of enclaves’ people is the scope of job opportunity for them. No job reservation has since been made for the erstwhile enclaves’ dwellers, nor has any alternative job opportunity policy yet been initiated for them. Even for admitting their children into an Indian School or College, enclave dwellers have still been facing lots of troubles, as no reservation has so far been made for admission of their children.  
Based on the joint survey carried out by India and Bangladesh in erstwhile enclaves of both the countries, it was evident that 989 persons, out of total 38,521 residents of erstwhile Indian enclaves in Bangladesh, opted to retain their original nationality of Indian citizenship and migrated to Indian mainland from Bangladesh. On the other hand, all 14,863 residents of the Bangladesh enclaves in India opted for Indian nationality and opted to stay in India as Indian citizen by altering their citizenship. It is significantly observed that not a single person from erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves in India opted to go back to Bangladesh so far; whereas, 989 people staying at Indian enclaves in Bangladesh have already been migrated in Indian mainland. These migrated people of Indian enclaves from Bangladesh have been temporarily rehabilitated at various Enclave Settlement Camps (Rehabilitation Camp) set up in Dinhata, Mekhligunj & Haldibari Blocks at Cooch Behar District of West Bengal, India.
During said field survey carried out in June, 2016, we also visited three Enclaves Settlement Camps set up in Haldibari, Mekhligunj and Dinhata Blocks under Coochbehar Districts of West Bengal, India, for temporary resettlement of the migrated erstwhile Indian enclaves’ people who came from Bangladesh and interviewed 134 persons of different ages consisting of 77 male and 57 female inhabitants who earlier resided at different erstwhile Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh. During said field survey, it had been studied that people of erstwhile Indian enclaves duly got their Voter ID Card and Aadhar Card in support of their Identity as Indian Citizen after resettling in Indian mainland. Govt. of India arranged temporary accommodations for them by setting up three Enclaves Settlement Camps in the District of Coochbehar, West Bengal, India, with free electricity facility and also provided some essential food commodities for them at free of cost, yet they were scared about their permanent settlement in Indian mainland. As per opinion of camps’ dwellers, those food commodities provided by the Govt. of India were really insufficient for maintenance of their family. As a result, they essentially needed job for sustaining their family. Although, some of the enclaves’ people are also engaged in 100 days work program, but no job reservation has since been made for these migrated erstwhile Indian enclaves’ people temporarily residing at said Enclave Settlement camps; nor has any alternative job opportunity policy yet been initiated for them. Although a Health Centre had been set up by the Govt. within each Enclave Settlement Camp for cost-free medical treatment of camps’ dwellers, but, in their opinion, no real medical service they were enjoying from such Health Centre and as a consequence, they were forced to consult private medical practitioners outside Settlement Camp paying visiting fees and buying medicines out of their own pockets. They were feeling confused about their decision for migration in Indian mainland. In erstwhile Indian enclaves, where they lived in during last 67 years, they had their own land for cultivation and they could move to Bangladeshi land in search of their bread and butter. According to them, they can hardly get any opportunity for finding any suitable job after migrating in Indian mainland, where they are completely ‘landless’ as well as ‘jobless’. According to PTI, “Those who have come from Indian enclaves which were situated in Bangladesh are feeling alienated here. They don’t have either any job opportunities or any proper source of income. How will they secure their future? So they feel that going back to Bangladesh is the best option to secure their future.” We also witnessed above feelings of the migrated erstwhile Indian enclaves’ people during our field survey. No permanent shelter has yet been provided to them; nor has any permanent job opportunity been procured for them so far in Indian mainland. 
The imminent territory within these two countries created an inhuman situation for the co-citizen of our loving world and they were victimized for sustaining their existence in an inhuman situation of statelessness without support of the state aids just due to mockery of historical and political destiny during past 67 years. A porous political border already snatched many golden days from their lives making them just ‘nowhere people’ only.  In the mean time, plenty of water has blown down the river Tista. LBA, 2015 had been accorded between the two concerned nations for settlement of this long overdue problem. Sons and daughters of Tista have started to forget their days of nightmare that they passed on. 
But, apart from affirmation of national citizenship identity, no other fundamental rehabilitation program has yet been initiated by the Govt. of India for the erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves’ people till date. Neither land record and settlement problem of erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves’ people has yet been resolved; nor has any job reservation policy or alternative job opportunity policy yet been procured for them; nor has any educational reservation system yet been introduced for their children; nor has any infrastructural development activity been initiated within erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves as yet. 

The writer is Assistant Professor (selection grade), Dept. of Commerce, S. R. Fatepuria College, Murshidabad, West Bengal, India

 

 

The impact of Land Boundary Agreement, 2015

On a fine morning, a country had been divided into two parts just due to political and religious interest of few people, intersecting innocent hearts of a small section of marginal people, resulting in creation of a porous border which already snatched their childhood days, their adolescent emotions, their youth courage and even their old age peaces making them isolated enclaves people only. Till just one and half years back, there were some flakes of land in independent India and Bangladesh, where countrys independence defined its people in a different tone, resulting in creation of a separate class of stateless people within these two neibouring countries. Although these people had no doubt about their own nationality; although they themselves were not at all responsible for their shocking fate; yet they were forced to live in no-mans land as nowhere people till 67 years after Indias independence just due to ridicule of historical and political destiny. Enclave or exclave (Chhitmahal in Bengali) means a portion of territory of one country completely surrounded by the territory of another country. As per Report of the India-Bangladesh Joint Field Inspection, 1996, 111 exchangeable Indian Enclaves inside Bangladesh and 51 exchangeable Bangladeshi Enclaves inside India had been identified. These included a few 2nd-order enclaves or counter-enclave (i.e. enclave within an enclave) as well as a 3rd-order enclave or counter-counter enclave (i.e. a Bangladeshi enclave surrounded by an Indian enclave, which itself surrounded by another Bangladeshi enclave). In India, all these splinters of Bangladesh were situated in the District of Coochbehar of the State of West Bengal. On the other hand, in Bangladesh, these flakes of India were located in four Districts under its Rangpur Division, of which 59 were in Lalmonirhat District, 36 were in Ponchogarh District, 12 were in Kurigram District and 4 were in Nilphamari District. As per the Press Release of the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, in November, 2015, all these 162 enclaves contained a total population of 53,384. History of enclaves contains a long tail, when Shahjahan was the Mughal Emperor and Raja Prananarayana was the King of Coochbehar Estate. Raja Prananarayana occupied certain portion of lands within the Mughal Empire by defeating Mughals. Thus, the King of Coochbehar ruled over some portion of lands which were completely surrounded by lands belonging to the Mughal Empire. Similarly Mughals also wrested some portion within the Coochbehar Estate which later came under the control of the Maharaja of Rangpur. So, these lands were geographically separated from the Cooch Behar and Rangpur estate, ruled by one emperor within the geographical jurisdictions of the other estate. In this context, some opine otherwise. According to an unverified popular legend, these slivers of land were used as stakes in card or chess games or other gambling centuries ago between two regional kings, the Raja of Cooch Behar and the Maharaja of Rangpur. The erstwhile Indian enclaves that now lie inside Bangladesh were once the property of the Raja of Coochbehar before Indias independence. On the other hand, erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves that now lie inside India were once the property of the Maharaja of Rangpur prior to Indias independence. As per historical records, such little territories were apparently the result of a confused outcome of a 1713 treaty between the Kingdom of Coochbehar and the Mughal Empire. As a consequence, possibly the war between these two estates had been packed up without determining any specific boundary for some places that had been gained or lost. Later on, formation of these splinters of lands in neibouring country is the consequence of the historical partition of India in 1947. According to Urvashi Butalia, In 1947, when the British finally left India after almost two centuries, they created two countries, India and Pakistan, out of one. In order to partition the country, they brought in a lawyer, Cyril Radcliffe, to demarcate the boundary between India and what was to become Pakistan, who demarcated the India-Pakistan border in straight lines cutting across territories. The fact that the two states of Coochbehar and Rangpur chose not to join either India or Pakistan at the time of Independence also played a significant role in the process of creation of these enclaves. In 1949, Cooch Behar joined India and in 1952, Rangpur chose to be part of Pakistan. In the mean time, these two estates had been conquering each others territories and thus, made the situation more complicated. The combined effect of all these resulted in creation of enclaves of India inside Bangladesh and vice-versa. The endeavour to de-enclave these enclaves of both the countries was firstly manifested in 1958 Agreement (Nehru-Noon Agreement) for exchange of enclaves between India and the then Pakistan, but the matter then hanged for a Supreme Court case in India. With reference to the said 1958 agreement, negotiations were restarted after East Pakistan became an independent country as Bangladesh in 1971. In 1974, soon after the independence of Bangladesh, the Indira-Mujib Treaty of Friendship was supposed to address all kinds of land border disputes between Bangladesh and India, who shared a 4,096.7 kms long porous border, including exchange of enclaves between the two countries. Both countries were able to conclude the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), 1974 (Indira-Mujib Agreement) to find out an ultimate resolution to this complex nature of border demarcation except for the three outstanding issues pertaining to : (i) Exchange of enclaves; (ii) Settlement of adverse possession; (iii) Undemarcated land boundary of approximately 6.1 kms. in three sectors, viz. Daikhata-56 in West Bengal, Muhuri RiverBelonia in Tripura and Lathitila-Dumabari in Assam. As a consequence of LBA, 1974 between India and Bangladesh, India was supposed to hand over the sovereignty of the Tin Bigha Corridor, a strip of Indian land covering an area of 178 by 85 metres (584 ft 279 ft) and thereby allowing access to the DahagramAngarpota Bangladeshi twin enclave. On the other hand, Bangladesh was to hand over the South Berubari covering an area of 7.39 sq. kms. (2.85 sq mi). Bangladesh duly handed over the sovereignty of the South Berubari to India instantly in 1974. India, however, could not lease out the Tin Bigha Corridor to Bangladesh till 1992, as it required constitutional amendment which could not be done due to political reasons in India. Finally on 26th June, 1992, as a counterpart of the 1974 LBA package, the Tin Bigha Corridor had been leased out by India in perpetuity to Bangladesh, giving her access to its Dahagram-Angorpota Enclave in order to enable her to exercise sovereignty on this twin enclave The exchange of enclaves redrawing of the international boundary, India required a constitutional amendment according to Article 368 of its Constitution. Although Bangladesh ratified said agreement, but then India failed to pass necessary constitutional amendment to its Parliament to ratify said agreement. In September, 2011, Governments of India and Bangladesh announced, by virtue of Monomohan-Hasina Land Boundary Agreement, an intention to resolve enclaves issue by means of swapping 162 enclaves, giving residents a choice of nationality. In India, the Constitution (One Hundred and Nineteenth) Amendment Bill, 2013 put forward to give effect to this proposed land exchange. But India again failed to pass necessary constitutional amendment to its Parliament to ratify said agreement. After several postponements and delay in settlement of the destiny of the poor people of these enclaves, their miserable saga of long almost seven decades seemed to come to an end when India ratified the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh by its 119th constitutional amendment in May 2015 in both the houses of its Parliament. Immediately thereafter, aforesaid 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh (covering an area of 17,160.63 acres) and 51 exchangeable Bangladeshi enclaves in India (covering an area of 7,110.02 acres) had been exchanged between the two countries by virtue of historic Land Boundary agreement (LBA) accorded between the Govt. of Republic of India and the Govt. of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh on 6th June, 2015. As per LBA, 2015, 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh henceforth be considered as own lands of Bangladesh; whereas 51 exchangeable Bangladeshi enclaves in India henceforth be considered as own lands of India. Accordingly, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in India and 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh were physically transferred to the other country with effect from the midnight of 31 July 2015. Thus, India received 7,110.02 acres of Bangladeshi enclaves land from Bangladesh; whereas it transferred 17,160.63 acres Indian enclaves land to Bangladesh. Such exchange of lands is basically a switch from a de-facto situation to a de-jure one, since these enclaves were already under geographical jurisdictions of both the countries. By virtue of LBA Protocol, people residing in these enclaves were free to choose their citizenship as per their own will. If they decided to stay in their birth soil by altering their citizenship (e.g. if a person of Indian enclave in Bangladesh opted to stay in Bangladesh as a Bangladeshi Citizen), they would get all benefits of citizenship of the concerned state where they opted to stay. Conversely, if they wished to migrate themselves into their mother state (e.g. if a person of Indian enclave in Bangladesh opted to migrate in Indian mainland), they would also get all benefits of citizenship of the concerned mother state in the mainland. The concerned mother state would offer adequate rehabilitation packages to such migrated people in its mainland. It had been highly expected from all the corners that this long overdue exchange would improve the lives of all those residents of enclaves in either sides of the border who, by an unfortunate twist of fate, had been living without any national identity and without enjoying or ever knowing the quality of livlihood enjoyed by their neighbours living just around these enclaves. In June, 2016, after implementation of Land Boundary Agreement, 2015, I personally visited twenty three erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves within India along with my other three team members and interacted with 328 persons of different ages residing at different erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves consisting of 203 male and 125 female inhabitants. During said field survey, it had been observed that people of erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves duly got their Voter ID Card and Aadhar Card in support of their Identity as Indian Citizen after implementation of LBA, 2015, between India and Bangladesh, but no other basic problems of erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves have yet been resolved. No infrastructural developmental works within these enclaves have been initiated so far. Two major problematic issues of the erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves people have been identified during said field survey. First and foremost identified problem that they are still facing with is settlement of their lands within these erstwhile enclaves. A large number of enclave dwellers anxiously brought the issue of their land settlement before us when we interacted with them during said field survey. We scrutinized that many enclave dwellers didnt possess the original title deeds of their lands issued by Bangladesh Land Settlement Authority, although all these lands were under their possessions. During long 67 years of their exiled life in enclaves, many original land deed holders already sold out their lands to other enclaves dwellers on the basis of mutual written agreement just on a white paper. Accordingly, such transferee land occupiers do not possess original title deeds of lands in their name, although they are occupying such lands for a number of years after such transfer took place with consideration. Now, big question is that whether such mutual written agreement just on a white paper would be considered or not at the time of disposal of land records and settlements by the Govt. of India. Enclave dwellers are really afraid about settlement of their land issue, which is the only source of generating economic resources of most of enclaves people till date. Second important identified problem of enclaves people is the scope of job opportunity for them. No job reservation has since been made for the erstwhile enclaves dwellers, nor has any alternative job opportunity policy yet been initiated for them. Even for admitting their children into an Indian School or College, enclave dwellers have still been facing lots of troubles, as no reservation has so far been made for admission of their children. Based on the joint survey carried out by India and Bangladesh in erstwhile enclaves of both the countries, it was evident that 989 persons, out of total 38,521 residents of erstwhile Indian enclaves in Bangladesh, opted to retain their original nationality of Indian citizenship and migrated to Indian mainland from Bangladesh. On the other hand, all 14,863 residents of the Bangladesh enclaves in India opted for Indian nationality and opted to stay in India as Indian citizen by altering their citizenship. It is significantly observed that not a single person from erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves in India opted to go back to Bangladesh so far; whereas, 989 people staying at Indian enclaves in Bangladesh have already been migrated in Indian mainland. These migrated people of Indian enclaves from Bangladesh have been temporarily rehabilitated at various Enclave Settlement Camps (Rehabilitation Camp) set up in Dinhata, Mekhligunj Haldibari Blocks at Cooch Behar District of West Bengal, India. During said field survey carried out in June, 2016, we also visited three Enclaves Settlement Camps set up in Haldibari, Mekhligunj and Dinhata Blocks under Coochbehar Districts of West Bengal, India, for temporary resettlement of the migrated erstwhile Indian enclaves people who came from Bangladesh and interviewed 134 persons of different ages consisting of 77 male and 57 female inhabitants who earlier resided at different erstwhile Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh. During said field survey, it had been studied that people of erstwhile Indian enclaves duly got their Voter ID Card and Aadhar Card in support of their Identity as Indian Citizen after resettling in Indian mainland. Govt. of India arranged temporary accommodations for them by setting up three Enclaves Settlement Camps in the District of Coochbehar, West Bengal, India, with free electricity facility and also provided some essential food commodities for them at free of cost, yet they were scared about their permanent settlement in Indian mainland. As per opinion of camps dwellers, those food commodities provided by the Govt. of India were really insufficient for maintenance of their family. As a result, they essentially needed job for sustaining their family. Although, some of the enclaves people are also engaged in 100 days work program, but no job reservation has since been made for these migrated erstwhile Indian enclaves people temporarily residing at said Enclave Settlement camps; nor has any alternative job opportunity policy yet been initiated for them. Although a Health Centre had been set up by the Govt. within each Enclave Settlement Camp for cost-free medical treatment of camps dwellers, but, in their opinion, no real medical service they were enjoying from such Health Centre and as a consequence, they were forced to consult private medical practitioners outside Settlement Camp paying visiting fees and buying medicines out of their own pockets. They were feeling confused about their decision for migration in Indian mainland. In erstwhile Indian enclaves, where they lived in during last 67 years, they had their own land for cultivation and they could move to Bangladeshi land in search of their bread and butter. According to them, they can hardly get any opportunity for finding any suitable job after migrating in Indian mainland, where they are completely landless as well as jobless. According to PTI, Those who have come from Indian enclaves which were situated in Bangladesh are feeling alienated here. They dont have either any job opportunities or any proper source of income. How will they secure their future? So they feel that going back to Bangladesh is the best option to secure their future. We also witnessed above feelings of the migrated erstwhile Indian enclaves people during our field survey. No permanent shelter has yet been provided to them; nor has any permanent job opportunity been procured for them so far in Indian mainland. The imminent territory within these two countries created an inhuman situation for the co-citizen of our loving world and they were victimized for sustaining their existence in an inhuman situation of statelessness without support of the state aids just due to mockery of historical and political destiny during past 67 years. A porous political border already snatched many golden days from their lives making them just nowhere people only. In the mean time, plenty of water has blown down the river Tista. LBA, 2015 had been accorded between the two concerned nations for settlement of this long overdue problem. Sons and daughters of Tista have started to forget their days of nightmare that they passed on. But, apart from affirmation of national citizenship identity, no other fundamental rehabilitation program has yet been initiated by the Govt. of India for the erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves people till date. Neither land record and settlement problem of erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves people has yet been resolved; nor has any job reservation policy or alternative job opportunity policy yet been procured for them; nor has any educational reservation system yet been introduced for their children; nor has any infrastructural development activity been initiated within erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves as yet. The writer is Assistant Professor (selection grade), Dept. of Commerce, S. R. Fatepuria College, Murshidabad, West Bengal, India