“I came to Siliguri through the border at the Burimari-Chengrabandha post to visit Darjeeling. I also wanted to meet my relatives in Kolkata. Having visited Darjeeling, I took a train to Kolkata from Siliguri and returned to Siliguri also by train to return to Bangladesh through the Burimari-Chengrabandha border,” Nironjon Das, a young man from Barisal, told this correspondent in Siliguri on August 23. “It took me 12 hours to go to Kolkata and 12 hours to come back,” he said.
“If I had been able to access the Benapole-Petrapole border from Kolkata, it would have saved me time, money and energy. But I could not do so because in my Indian visa it was specified that I would only be able to use the Chengrabandha-Burimari border post,” he groused.
When asked why he did not apply to the Indian high commission to change the port of exit, Das said, “It is very difficult nowadays to get Indian visas. Considering the hassle and time required, I decided not to apply.”
Again, take the instance of Farjana Afrin, a housewife living in Uttara. She, along with her husband, went to Meghalaya to have a short holiday, followed by a few more days in Assam in mid-August. After completing the trips to Meghalaya and Assam, she asked her husband to make a trip to Darjeeling and return to Bangladesh through the Chengrabandha-Burimari border. But, as her husband informed her, since they had entered India through the Tamabil-Dawki border, as specified in the visa, she would not be allowed to access any other check post.
Considering the trouble and money involved in travelling to Darjeeling and returning to Shillong, Farjana Afrin dropped the plan.
Government officials told The Independent that like India, Bangladesh, too, enforce this rule related to entry and exit through the same check posts for Indian travellers. They pointed out that many more Bangladeshi travellers visit India than Indians visiting Bangladesh.
However, in most cases, those whose visas fix the use of the Benapole-Petrapole check post have the option of travelling by air, the officials said.
Although the Indian authorities recently took some steps to make the visa regime easier in order to make travel by Bangladeshis to India smoother, getting Indian visas is still very difficult and time-consuming.
“I have been trying for one month now to get a date for an Indian visa, but no luck so far. So, I decided to go through a middleman to obtain a visa. Some extra cash will be spent, but what can be done?” said a gentleman from Tongi, requesting anonymity.
“I gave money to a middleman to manage to get me an Indian visa. He managed to get me a medical visa. When I

went to the check post, the immigration officer wanted to see my medical papers, which, for obvious reasons, I could not show. I was then sent back,” said another person, also requesting
anonymity.
“I cannot understand why I cannot get an appointment while the middlemen get these. Not only that, some travel agents openly publicise the fact that they will arrange Indian visas in lieu of extra money. What are the Bangladeshi and Indian governments doing?” he said.
 Officials of both the governments are aware of the difficulties citizens face in getting Indian visas and claim that they are doing all they can to make it easier. But, given the number of applications received by the Indian high commission, it is sometimes difficult to cope with the rush, they admitted.
However, the issue of the use of fixed check posts can easily be addressed, saving people’s money, time and energy. Now, it is easier to do so because most of the land check posts operate online systems, enabling the authorities to monitor entry and exit by each traveller. Appreciating the trouble faced by travellers caused by the rule regarding the use of specified check posts, both governments are considering a resolution of this problem.
“We are aware of the trouble faced by travellers because check-posts are specified,” home secretary Dr Mozammel Haque Khan told The Independent. “We have informally raised the issue with the Indians and their response appeared to be positive. Now, we will officially put forward the proposal.
 Hopefully, the issue will be addressed,” he said. In reply to a question, the home secretary admitted, “We also specify check posts for Indian travellers. However, many more Bangladeshis travel to India than Indian travellers do.” Regarding the timeframe for abolishing the fixed check-post system, a top government official said, “I cannot give you any specific timeframe. Indians work a bit slowly in such things, probably because many departments are involved.” When contacted, a diplomat at the Indian high commission in Dhaka also said the Indian government is well aware of the issue and is ready to work with the Bangladeshi government in this respect.