Elated residents of fifty-five enclaves at Patgram in Lalmoirhat showing victory sign with national flags at a rally on Saturday after these enclaves became a part of Bangladesh on Friday midnight. — Focus Bangla
Until Friday midnight, this was Indian territory. The villagers were officially Indian citizens, but did not enjoy any basic rights.
The red and green flag was hoisted in the 111 enclaves in the northern districts of Panchagarh, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Kurigram on Saturday amid jubilant celebration, reports bdnews24.com.
The swap of 162 'land islands' between India and Bangladesh after Friday midnight ends one of the world's most intractable border disputes.
With the swap of enclaves between two countries, around 50,000 people have finally been able to get rid of the ignominy of being nobody's people in a no man's land.
According to the Land Boundary Agreement between the two neighbours, from Aug 1, some 17,160 acres of Indian land within Bangladesh territory became part of it.
Similarly, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves spread over nearly 7,110 acres within India became part of that country.
A joint India-Bangladesh headcount in mid-2011 found Bangladeshi enclaves had around 14,000 residents while the Indian enclaves were home to 37,000.
The highest number of Indian enclaves in Bangladesh was in Lalmonirhat- a total of 59- while 36 in Panchagarh, 12 in Kurigram and four in Nilphamari.
With the historic land swap, residents of these enclaves have been finally recognised as Bangladesh nationals.
However, around 1,000 enclave dwellers have opted for Indian citizenship while none from the Bangladeshi enclaves in India wanted to relocate to Bangladesh territory.
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