Curtains rolled down to end the 41-year old stalemate
pertaining to the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) as Parliament unanimously
passed the 119th constitutional Amendment on May 7th to
resolve the Indo-Bangladesh border dispute. The implementation would enable
sharing of the enclaves or Chittmahals in each other’s territory. The existence
of these enclaves dates back to early 17th century when they were
used as stakes in cards between the King of the Cooch Bihar and Maharaja of
Rangapur. After partition in 1947 by virtue of the Radcliffe line India shared
longest common boundary of 4096 kilometers with East Pakistan. But due to the
incoherent demarcation of Radcliffe award 1947, enclaves in one country were
surrounded by regions possessed by another country. During this process enclaves
in Rangapur became part of East Pakistan and by 1949 Cooch Bihar joined India. While the 1958 Nehru-Noon agreement displayed
an initiative to ‘deenclave’ these
regions without loss of territories the Supreme Court of India ordered for
passage of constitutional amendment for transfer of land. Hence ninth amendment
was introduced in the parliament to implement the agreement but amendment
couldn’t be passed due to the objections pertaining to transfer of South
Berubari enclave. The issue was unresolved as relationships with Pakistan began
to deteriorate.
With creation of Bangladesh from East Pakistan in 1971 fresh
negotiations were reinitiated. Accordingly the Land Boundary Agreement was
signed between Indira Gandhi and Mujibar Rehman to exchange enclaves and to
surrender adverse possessions on May 16th 1974. As per the
agreement, India retained Berubari union no: 12 and Bangladesh retained
Dahagram and Angorpota. India allotted a strip of land called Teen Bigha
Corridor (178x58 mt) in its possession on the West Bengal-Bangladesh border to
Bangladesh so that it can access its territories. Bangladesh quickly ratified
the treaty in 1974 but India failed to do so. By then 6.1 kilometers of the
undemarcated land boundary spanning in three sectors - Daikhata-56 (West
Bengal), Muhria- River Belonia (Tripura) and Lathitila-Dumabari (Assam) were
unresolved. Both the nations prepared the list of enclaves by 1997 and Two
Joint Boundary Working Groups were constituted in 2001 which carried out joint
census in 2007. An additional protocol under this LBA agreement of 1974 was
signed by then Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
in 2011. Under this agreement, India will receive possession of 54 enclaves
accounting for 7110.02 acres under the possession of Bangladesh within the
Indian Territory and Bangladesh will get 111 Enclaves of 17,160.63 acres in
Bangladesh from India. Consequently there will be swap of adverse possession of
areas. While India will acquire 2777.038 acres Bangladesh will get 2267.682
acres of area. India leased out Teen Bigha corridor to Bangladesh in 2011
amidst severe opposition from people.
When the 119th amendment was introduced in 2013 in
Rajya Sabha, BJP stiffly opposed the bill as its unit in Assam expressed
serious concerns of the local people. But the bill was stalled by Mamata Banerjee.
The logjam began to clear after Modi assumed the office of Prime Minister. In
August 2014 he welcomed the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling on the
Maritime boundary though it was very generous towards Bangladesh. In November
2014, the Parliament Panel, the standing committee on External Affairs approved
the bill. Modi has decided to keep the opinion of the state Unit aside in the
best interest of nation to provide succour to thousands of the people
inhabiting the enclaves who are denied of legitimate nationality and
consequently all the privileges accruing to it. In a rare display of mettle and
leadership, Modi trumped political interests for larger national interests and
spear headed the passage of this historic bill. Thus, he deftly fulfilled the
assurances made to his Bangladeshi Counterpart in September 2014 in New York.
The ratification of this bill was hailed by the Bangladeshi
Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina who travelled extra mile by arresting insurgent
leaders and by subverting anti-Indian plots hitched by Pakistan on its soil.
She has also made it difficult for the ISIS to use Bangladesh as a base for
terrorism and financial subversion. India by opting for the international
arbitration facilitated resolution of the border dispute which could have never
been settled by negotiations.
With the implementation of the agreement quality of life of
over 51 thousand people living in these enclaves will be improved. Denied of
even basic facilities, these people have been languishing as state-less people.
All these inhabitants will have national identity now and can enjoy all the basic
facilities enjoyed by their neighbours living outside the enclaves. Another
major respite will be the issue of border management. The 3000 Km long
Indo-Bangladesh border fenced by barbed wires was the most permeable border
despite the huge troops of border security forces. This border is notorious for
the omniscient smuggling besides trafficking in arms, drugs and people. With
ratification of the treaty security cooperation between the nations is bound to
increase and with efficient management of the border trade prospects can be
enhanced. Bangladesh enjoys duty-free access to Indian markets by increasing
the road, rail and maritime connectivity trade can be expanded. India and
Bangladesh suffer from perception problems and with implementation of LBA, the
deep seated gap in perception and scepticism might reduce paving way for a long
enduring friendship. This would eventually curtail the huge influx of
Bangladeshi migrants pushing into Indian Territory.
Now that the territorial agreement with Bangladesh is ready
for implementation, it should brood over the next dimension of the bilateral
relationship. India and Bangladesh share waters of 54 rivers and efforts should
be directed to resolve the framework implementation of the agreement signed in
2011. It called for cooperation between India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan for
joint harnessing of water resources shared by these countries. India should
push the Teesta waters issue to facilitate construction of dams and generation
of hydroelectric power benefitting both nations.
Historically undemarcated boundaries spawning between the
neighbouring regions had spiralled into land disputes threatening the peace and
harmony. Resolution of contestations bestowed harmony. By displaying the nerve
to implement the long drawn LBA agreement, Prime Minister Modi exhibited peerless
political courage needed to make huge diplomatic gains. The timing of this bill
is far more significant as it comes days before Modi’s departure to Beijing.
With resolution of land boundaries with Bangladesh India has emerged as a true leader
in the region. It avoided consternation and addressed the issue with good will,
trust and faith making a major gain in its Look East Policy. Now Bangladesh can
act as a bulwark against terrorism. LBA stands out as an epitome of visionary
statesmanship, common sense and pragmatism and signalled that festering
disputes can be addressed by warring factions for the common good of people.
@ Copyrights reserved.
Published on
MyIndMakers website on 13th May 2015
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