Indo-Bangla LBA: Transferring the Enclave Population

Saumitra Mohan

With the longstanding land boundary agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh on the verge of being clinched, the exchange or transfer of population as residing in the enclaves (or ‘chhintmahals’ as called in the local parlance) to be exchanged between the two countries is yet another problem they need to resolve. The question of giving options to the inhabitants residing in these enclaves needs to be addressed sooner than later to have a holistic resolution of this long-pending issue between these two South Asian neighbours. Incidentally, both India and Bangladesh conducted a joint census between 14-17 July, 2011 to determine the total population in these enclaves and found their number to be around 51,549. Of them, 37,334 persons were in Indian enclaves within Bangladesh while 14,215 people were residing in Bangladesh enclaves within India.

Historically speaking, the international boundary between India and Bangladesh was drawn hurriedly when the British left India. As a result thereof, thousands of people were left stranded in a number of unsettled enclaves as citizens of one country but living in territories surrounded by that of the other. The people in 111 Indian enclaves (17,160.63 acres) in Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi ones (7,110.02 acres) in India have been living in these pockets without any rights as lawful citizens of either country.

The proposed agreement builds on ‘behind-the-scene’ toil of the 31-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs (SCEA) chaired by MP Shashi Tharoor which recommended the deal in ‘overall national interest’. The Committee has rightly urged the government to emergently present the Bill in Parliament to permanently settle the tickling Indo-Bangla boundary dispute. As a result thereof, New Delhi shall be exchanging the enclaves as well as other small plots of land that are in ‘adverse possession’ of either country. There would not only be an exchange of enclaves between the two countries, but there shall also be a settlement of the territories held in adverse possession by both the countries. While India legally receives 2,777 acres of land in ‘adverse possession’, i.e. territory already under de facto Indian control but legally owned by Bangladesh, Bangladesh will, in turn, receive 2,267 acres of territory in its adverse possession but lawfully belonging to India.

It is learnt that the SCEA has proposed in its report to the House of People (read Lok Sabha) that the inhabitants, living in Bangladeshi enclaves in India, should be granted Indian citizenship under Section 7 of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 (as applicable to population residing in territories incorporated into India) as these enclaves are to be transferred to India as part of the proposed Indo-Bangladesh land swap deal to be inked soon.

            “A modest demographic change in both the countries is expected to take place after this agreement comes into force. Not only would some Indian citizens return to the mainland from the previously held enclaves, but a number of currently Bangladeshi nationals would be given Indian citizenship after the area is ceded to India,” the report says. After all, it is only logical that the Indian citizens living in Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh are given a choice to retain their Indian citizenship after these territories are legally handed over to Bangladesh.

Similarly, it is also advisable that the Bangladeshi citizens living in enclaves to be handed over by Bangladesh to India are also given an option to opt for Indian citizenship. If the same does not happen, the life of these people shall continue to be as troubled as it was earlier. It would also constitute a gross anomaly as being Bangladeshi citizens, they cannot continue to live in territories owned by India unless they are resettled in legally-owned Bangladeshi territories to be identified for the purpose or they are given a choice to switch their citizenship without there being any need to change their place of residence i.e. current Bangladeshi enclaves encircled by Indian territories.

As the proposed territorial and population exchanges shall have serious implications for the country’s security and integrity, one feels that government should exercise all options available to put in place a suitable mechanism and modality to check for the bonafides and credentials of the Bangladeshi nationals who shall be conferred Indian citizenship after legal incorporation of the enclaves where they have so far been residing as citizens of Bangladesh because these territories legally belonged to the latter.

The SCEA, therefore, rightly observed that the cognate security aspects should be thoroughly examined before the proposed population exchange is effected. It also recommended suitable augmentation and upgradation of the law and order machinery in the affected areas in consultation with India’s eastern provincial government of West Bengal. 

It may be noted that because of the fact that these Bangladeshi enclaves are deep within Indian Territory without any fencing or means to physically demarcate them, the Bangladeshi citizens in these enclaves have been practically free to mix with the rest of the Indian populace. In fact, there is practically no choice available to these people as they are physically encircled on all sides by Indian territories; so that they have to mix and mingle with the people living in Indian lands geographically contiguous to theirs. Such a scenario makes it very difficult for the Indian law enforcement authorities to effectively carry out their duties in these enclaves as technically they are not Indian territories notwithstanding the fact that many of these enclaves have become the hot-beds of criminal activities. It is this anomalous situation that the proposed LBA and its attendant Protocol seek to address as and when they are ratified and implemented by the two countries.

The Union Home Secretary, while replying to the SCEA on the security dimensions of the proposed bilateral deal is reported to have said on 29 October 2014 that ‘...as far as the Indian population living in Bangladesh is concerned, they are our citizens and they have every right to come back...But when they come back, we intend to take the biometric details of all of them and carry out the entire exercise to ensure that we know who all are coming. Then in close cooperation and consultation with the government of West Bengal, they will be taken to places where they are proposed to be settled’.

In a reply to the SCEA regarding safety of the Indian nationals staying back in the Indian enclaves to be transferred to Bangladesh, the Ministry of External Affairs is reported to have affirmed an understanding with Bangladesh on this score. It said, “...Indeed such an understanding is the basis of the 2011 Protocol and the fundamental premise on which exchange of enclaves would take place. As per the LBA, citizens of Indian enclaves in Bangladesh are given the right of staying where they are as nationals of the State to which the areas are transferred. If they choose to exercise this right, they would voluntarily acquire Bangladeshi citizenship and all rights of Bangladeshi citizens would accrue to them”. Same right shall be reciprocally granted to the inhabitants of Bangladeshi enclaves in India to stay back and acquire the Indian citizenship as also suggested above.

The Indo-Bangladesh LBA is a low-hanging fruit waiting to be plucked at the asking of the two countries. One only hopes that resolution of this issue hanging fire for a long time would pave the way for further strengthening and consolidation of a very functional bilateral relation between the two countries. As a mature democracy, India must not allow petty politics to interfere with such diplomatic moves which consolidates its position as a regional power in South Asia. All political parties must come together to ensure the ratification of the ‘swap deal’ as it not only settles a contentious border but also ensures peaceful borders with her neighbours which enables India to focus on its strengths to eventually emerge as one of the ‘super powers’ to reckon with in international politics.

*The views expressed are personal and don’t reflect those of the Government.