Fenced out of progress: Why Indians near Tripura border can’t avail govt schemes

Agartala: What makes an Indian citizen? Does it entail the right to vote, access to government schemes, and the right to be heard? If so, then there is a strong case for thousands of Indians living in Tripura to believe that they are Indians only in theory. 

Sample this: they can vote in elections but are not entitled to government schemes. Education, Health and other basics remain a privilege for most, and what they can or cannot do is not dictated by regular laws; instead, they must obey everything the border forces say. 

The pain of those who lost homes, lands and relatives following the partition between India and (then) East Pakistan is well documented. However, it seems little has changed for some Indians even after decades, even after East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Unlike their friends and relatives living on the ‘Indian’ side of the fencing, these people have been living a subservient life, following the instructions of the security personnel guarding the international borders.

And it is not a ‘small’ problem in size: Tripura shares a whopping 856 kilometres-long border with Bangladesh. While most of the border stretch has been covered with barbed wire fencing, some areas remain unfenced. 

This creates a No Man’s Land, but not without its issues. 

People living beyond the fencing area are ‘too far’ for the government to reach out, and extend its services because of multiple obligations. However, the local people’s biggest challenge is something much more sinister and dangerous: the unabated smuggling activities and exploitation that cut them off from the mainstream.

A serious dearth of employment opportunities coupled with the excessive influence of the smuggling kingpins compels children to take up smuggling as a means of livelihood at a tender age. As a result, the students almost always drop out of school after a certain age and take on illegal activities to earn easy money and the vicious trap continues to ensnare new recruits.

‘Still watching things on DVD’

Abdul Kashem is the Deputy Chief of the local Panchayat at Boxanagar. Talking about the border, Kashem recalled how he lost land due to the border fencing.

“We haven’t been adequately compensated. It was my ancestral land that is divided into two parts by fencing and it is of no use. The BSF has issued us gate passes. We can move to and fro, but that does not make any sense because the land is gone. The BSF is the supreme authority here. I have no reservation in saying that they don’t understand the needs of people living at the border,” he told EastMojo.

Kashem pointed to the three border gates in the Boxanagar area, which open for a particular time window. “In that period, people can move around. Students can attend the classes. But they must return before the stipulated time. There are two sets of cards: the yellow card is for people living outside the fences, while the red card is for farmers who go to the other side for agriculture purposes,” Kashem pointed out.

Expressing his sharp disappointment on the role of the Border Security Forces (BSF) in tackling the problems of the border people, Kashem said, “The BSF people don’t understand the urgency of the situation. 

Sometimes, there are medical emergencies, natural calamities or other social issues. However, the BSF rarely considers those problems. But yes, I will add: if the forces are satisfied with the reasons, they allow patients to cross even if the time for movement through the gates is over.”

Since the Indian government cannot carry out any development activities in those areas, locals have barely seen any new infrastructure. Village roads are in poor condition. They are also self-dependent on drinking water and livelihood. These villages cannot even access cable TV, and the region has no mobile connectivity. 

Monir Hossain, a resident of the same area, says they use SIM cards issued by Bangladesh mobile service providers. “Most of our villagers have two sim cards: one from a Bangladesh service provider and the other from an Indian telecom company. When we enter the gate, we use the Indian network. On ‘our’ side, we use the Bangladesh network. But for television, we have to rely on Bangladeshi channels. DVD players are still a good source of entertainment in our village,” he explained.

Indians who cannot access government schemes

The border stretch in question begins in Belonia in South Tripura and ends in Kamalasagar in the Sepahijala district. The border population ahead of the fencing is largely concentrated in the Sonamura, Dhanpur, Boxanagar and Kamalasagar areas and most families living here are Muslims. Regarding the problems associated with the government welfare schemes, Salma Begum of the Kalshimura Gram Panchayat under the Boxanagar RD Block said although their family was eligible for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, they could not avail of it due to the land-related complications.

“We have been told by the Panchayat authorities to arrange a piece of land on the Indian side to benefit from the scheme. When toilets were sanctioned under the Swacch Bharat Mission, we could not avail the benefits due to the same reasons. In every election, we cast our vote, but in terms of delivery of services, we get nothing,” Begum told EastMojo.

She also accused the BSF personnel of harassing locals for no reason. “They arbitrarily enter the villages whenever they want and ransack households in the name of search operations. Many people have suffered injuries in the scuffling with BSF troopers during their sudden raids,” she added. 

According to the BSF sources, there are 47 villages ahead of the fencing across the state. The number of households, as per the BSF records, stands at 838, while the population is around 4,500. 

In total, there are about 1,800 villages located close to the border. 

When asked about the allegations raised by the border population, a highly-placed official in the BSF Tripura Frontier headquarters said guarding the borders in Tripura is a challenging task because of the nature of the border.

“The border geography is very complicated. The troopers deployed in the fencing areas have been instructed to prevent all sorts of illegal activities. Now, for the bordering population, we have some SOPs for movement. On some occasions, these SOPs act as an annoying factor for the local people. But the guidelines are needed to be strictly adhered to,” the official lamented.

The officer said several families who had already purchased land inside the fencing were intentionally staying in the region to ensure that their businesses kept running. “Whenever Bangladesh suffers a crisis of some essential goods, a section of people in these areas act as suppliers. Bangladesh was reporting a sugar crisis, so Tripura-based smugglers started storing sugar on a large scale. We have seized over one lakh Kg of Sugar in the last seven-eight months of this year.”

Apart from essential goods, Narcotic substances like Ganja, Yaba tablets, and mobile phones (both used and new) are also smuggled to Bangladesh.

“Each BSF battalion needs to take care of 60-65 km of bordering stretches, that too with half of the manpower. Almost every time, a significant number of our troops remain posted in election duties in various parts of the country. Manning such a lengthy stretch of the borders with less manpower is a hectic task for our jawans. Besides, no lethal weapons are being used against anyone in the borders…the border gates are opened in alterations or alternate days so that the SOPs could be followed,” he added.

When asked about efforts taken to increase awareness among local masses, the BSF official said, “Under the civic action programme, BSF distributes many essentials among the locals. Sports articles are donated for schools, and buildings and passenger sheds are constructed for schools and common people by the end of BSF. Every time the commandant-level officers visit any bordering village, we conduct a meeting with local people to resolve their problems and take positive steps,” the official added.  

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