Enclave people pray for citizen rights (video)

After the ratification of long-awaited land boundary agreement (LBA) between Bangladesh and India, enclave people in Lalmonirhat now seek government support to enjoy citizen rights.

“We need roads, schools, colleges, hospitals here,” Nur Hossain, 28, an inhabitant of Bashpatai enclave located in Lalmonirhat Sadar says. “Because we weren’t citizens, there have been no development works done here.”

He speaks the mind of the enclave dwellers all over Bangladesh who were stranded after the independence of Bangladesh and been living like aliens inside the country since.

Now, after a long awaited life of being denied fundamental rights, Nur Hossain and all others like him will finally be provided an identity and all the rights with the land boundary deal that is expected to be inked during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.

There are 59 enclaves, out of the total 111 inside Bangladesh, located in Lalmonirhat district. A total of 33 out of Bangladesh’s 51 enclaves under Lalmonirhat district are located in India’s Cooch Behar district of West Bengal.