-Tk 200 Cr spent on development of enclaves
-Electricity facility is provided to every house
-Govt built Edu, Religious and developing Inst
-Various trainings arranged to advance ppl
Today is the ninth anniversary of the enclave exchange. After 68 years of captivity, 41,000 citizens of the defunct 111 enclaves of Bangladesh were recognized as citizens of independent Bangladesh on July 31, 2015. They were deprived of basic rights for a long time. There was no specific country and identity for the residents of these enclaves with an area of 17 thousand 158 acres. As a result, they were living an inhumane life. They could not even get the slightest recognition from the state.
The people of the enclave finally got the taste of freedom on July 31, 2015 with the joint efforts of the Government of Bangladesh and India. The life of the cursed enclave ended with the lighting of candles at midnight and the raising of the national flag of Bangladesh at sunrise the next day (August 1). Residents of 59 enclaves of Lalmonirhat, 12 enclaves of Kurigram, 4 enclaves of Nilphamari and 36 enclaves of Panchagarh were recognized as citizens of independent Bangladesh.
After being released from 68 years of captivity, other residents of the country started getting benefits. In the last 9 years, various steps have been taken by the government to advance the defunct enclave. Tk 200 crore has been spent on the development of defunct enclaves. Roads are built, educational institutions, religious institutions are built. Electricity facility is provided from house to house. There is no dearth of steps in agricultural development in all these extinct enclaves. The living standards of the extinct enclave started to change.
Azizul Haque, a resident of the defunct enclave of Kulaghat Union of Lalmonirhat Sadar Upazila, said, "From childhood till 2015, we did not know which country we were citizens of." There was no land ownership, no opportunity to study. We had to spend our life as a prisoner even though we were inside the Bangladesh block. After the abolition of the enclave, citizenship, land ownership, education opportunities for boys and girls have been found. Government has built educational institutions, religious institutions; houses have been given electricity connection in these enclaves’ areas.
Resident Rabidas (40) said, I am a child of a minority ethnic family. As a child I used to hear that we are Indians. But we did not get any benefits, legal assistance from India. Being a home in Indian land inside Bangladesh, we haven’t had any citizenship of any country. As a result, we couldn’t get any benefits from neither India or from Bangladesh. Even we couldn’t claim land ownership, buying and selling for this. Currently we are citizens of independent Bangladesh. We are living in the same way as other residents of the country are living. The government has made all kinds of development in this area.
Harunor Rashid, a member of the committee for the exchange of the defunct enclave, said that due to neglect for 68 years, the enclave area had no roads, educational institutions, and citizenship of the residents. Since August 1, 2015, there has been progress in all areas with the sole efforts of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Left behind, the defunct enclaves are living like other citizens of Bangladesh. However, some educational institutions have not yet been nationalized. As an example, he said, Saleha Sarkar Private Primary School, established in 2015 at Bashapchai Vitarkuti, has not been official yet. Besides, there is still unemployment problem in defunct enclave areas. He demanded to take steps to build industrial establishments in defunct enclave areas under the supervision of the government.
Rangpur Divisional Commissioner Zakir Hossain said that the government has taken various steps for the development of 111 defunct enclaves of Rangpur Division. Roads, educational institutions, religious institutions have been built in the defunct enclaves. Various types of training have been arranged by the government to advance the people of these areas which have been neglected for a long time. Improvements have been made in all areas, including household electrical facilities. The development work will be continued in the future.
ZH