Residents of Chandannagar village in Tripura's Dhalai District have expressed happiness over Parliament passing the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement (LBA).
On May 5, the Union cabinet cleared a statute amendment Bill to operationalise the Land Boundary Agreement.
The villagers were apprehensive that Chandannagar, which was considered as an Adverse Possession Land (APL), would be handed over to Bangladesh government as per Indira-Mujib agreement of 1974. But as they got the news that their village will be an integral part of India, they were overwhelmed and thanked the government for passing the LBA, which has saved them for becoming refugees for the second time.
"We are very happy and it is beyond expression," said Ram Avatar Kumar, a villager.
Gangavishnu Kumar, another villager, said they had faced a lot of problems due to the border fence and the prevailing circumstances.
"As our cultivable land was on the other side of the border fencing so we were in great trouble and had to face various problems in cultivating there. Now the government, which may be, has give us the
land back for that we are very happy. If the fencing comes up right, it will be a great help as we can easily go there but in present arrangement it is little problematic," he said.
Another villager, Mohanlal Parshi, said, "All our land is outside the fencing and we had to face lot of problems. We have permission from the Border Security Force to go there to cultivate that land, but Bangladeshis use to take away our harvest. It will be safer as the land gets recognition as part of Indian territory and we are very happy. Our government has given back our land, and hence, we are very happy."
During the final years of British Rule, just before independence and as part of the Radcliffe Award, Chandannagar was shown as a part of Sylhet District (in erstwhile East Pakistan) in a map released on August 14, 1947.
However, the rulers of Tripura never really agreed with the delineation and residents of the village preferred to remain with the then king and kept paying taxes to their rulers.
The implementation of the LBA will enable both countries to exchange lands known as enclaves or Chhitmahal in each other's territory. The bill will also help in resolving the long-standing problem of land in adverse possession.
