Sixty-eight years after Independence came another freedom at midnight 01 Aug 2015. 14,214 citizens of Bangladesh, who had been residing in 51 enclaves within India, would have become Indian citizens. Around the same time, 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh would have merged with that country. Of the 37,000 living there, 979 have opted to move to India, allaying fears of a huge transfer of population when the historic Land Boundary Agreement became operative and both countries redrew their boundary maps along North Bengal. No one from the Bangladeshi enclaves in India has chosen to cross over to Bangladesh. The total number of new Indian citizens will be 15,193.

1. Decoding Indo-Bangla land pact
What is an enclave?
An enclave is a patch of land encircled by other country's territory. India has 111 such enclaves
within Bangladesh, while Bangladesh has 51 within the Indian territory. Interestingly, these
enclaves dot the Indo-Bangla land boundary in north Bengal. The reason is these territories
belonged to the princely states of Cooch Behar and Rangpur dating back to 18th century. When
the princely states — Cooch Behar and Rangpur — merged with India and Pakistan respectively,
the enclaves remained as they were. Indian enclaves in Bangladesh are spread over four districts
namely Panchagarh, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Nilphamari. All the Bangladeshi enclaves are in
Cooch Behar. People in the enclaves did not enjoy full legal rights as citizens of either country
and facilities such as electricity, schools and health services were deficient. Some became a hot
bed of criminal activities.
How many people reside in these enclaves?
A joint headcount conducted from 14-17 July, 2011 determined the total population in the
enclaves to be around 51,549 (37,334 in Indian enclaves within Bangladesh and 14,215 in
Bangladesh enclaves within India). The total area covered by the 111 Indian enclaves in
Bangladesh is 17160.63 acres and the 51 Bangladesh enclaves in India is 7110.02 acres. India
will transfer the enclave land to Bangladesh and Bangladesh will do the same.
Will the new border alignment lead to a huge transfer of population?
As on date not a single household living in the Indian enclave in Bangladesh has opted to go to
Bangladesh. As many as 979 people living in the Bangladesh enclaves in India have opted for
coming over to the Indian territory. Some migrant workers from Bangladesh enclaves in India
have recently applied for coming to India.
What is adverse possession?
An adverse possession is a patch of land within the other country's boundary. But the difference
with the enclaves is these patches of land are under the occupation and administration of the
other country. People living here enjoy all the rights under the laws of the other country. India
has 38 patches of land measuring 2777.038 acres in Bangladesh. Bangladesh on the other hand
has 2267.682 acres in India. Transfer of land in case of adverse possession is a mere technicality.
Problem in the Land Boundary Agreement
Those people from Bangladesh enclaves opting to come to India won't be given citizenship in
August. They have to wait till November to get it. What will they do for these four months is a
question.

2. 68 Years After Independence, Another
Freedom At Midnight
Sixty-eight years after Independence came another freedom at midnight 01 Aug 2015. 14,214
citizens of Bangladesh, who had been residing in 51 enclaves within India, would have become
Indian citizens. Around the same time, 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh would have merged
with that country. Of the 37,000 living there, 979 have opted to move to India, allaying fears of a
huge transfer of population when the historic Land Boundary Agreement became operative and
both countries redrew their boundary maps along North Bengal. No one from the Bangladeshi
enclaves in India has chosen to cross over to Bangladesh. The total number of new Indian
citizens will be 15,193.
The Cooch Behar administration has arranged temporary camps to accommodate the 900-odd
who have opted to come over to India. But what about land for these new residents? Probably
land won't be a problem. "There are many people in Bangladesh who had land in the Bangladeshi
enclaves on the Indian side. Now the government may acquire the land and distribute them
among the new settlers," . The Centre has to make an official gazette notification incorporating
the new territory. Soon after the India Post will give these areas a pin code. In time the people
will get Aadhaar cards, ration cards and the Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana will connect them
with the mainland.
People would be temporarily issued multiple entry visas to allow them visitation rights to the
country whose nationality they have chosen. This creates a paradox for people whose land - on
average 0.39 acres per head - is now geographically in Bangladesh. It makes their land records
registered in the sub-registry in Dinhata redundant. That's not all. In a move that has come under
fire from several rights bodies, people were being allowed to revise their nationality options a
second time. The deadline for this expired at 5pm on Friday. This was following demands from a
section of people who, either by obtaining fake documents or impersonation, have already
obtained Indian citizenship certificates, like ration cards etc. This enabled them to go to Chennai,
Mumbai and Delhi to work as migrant labour. Their absence at the time of the census ensured
their names figure nowhere. But the move to give them time to select options drew criticism.
"One has to draw a line somewhere. It isn't about the census alone," said Diptiman Sengupta, the
Bharat Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Coordination Committee convener. "We had personally
gone to homes urging people to register themselves as Bangladeshi. But in some homes, they
told us they'd lose their fraudulent BPL cards if they did. So they had to be left out." Land,
sources say, is turning out to be another potential flashpoint. Apparently, for the next six months
the Cooch Behar district administration has embargoed any land sale. Formally, 7,110 acres of
land are set to be added to India, in addition to 2,777 acres that are part of the adverse
possessions — a portion of territory that is contiguous to India's border and within Indian
control, but which is legally part of Bangladesh. TOI had also highlighted a curious case of
cross-land holding in the Bangladeshi enclaves, where Indians own vast tracts of land. Cooch
Behar's Trinamool Congress MP Renuka Sinha feels it will take days, if not months, to resolve
these complex issues. "The state and the Centre have agreed to a quantum of the rehabilitation
package (an estimated Rs 3,008 crore). There is an information vacuum now, hopefully the knots
will be untied," Sinha said. Diptiman, whose BBEECC will cease to exist from August 9, feels,
"The only way the problem can be resolved in the coming days is by declaring these newly

3. acquired areas as reserved areas. And that will be our first demand." All this does not confuse
Asgar Ali though. "Being Indian gives us a sense of hope. My grandchildren will now study like
other Indian children in government schools; my daughters will be taken to an Indian hospital at
childbirth; we'll have electricity at home," he says. "And I will become part of history."