E-Paper
Migrants, cattle smugglers & ‘unfencable' rivers
With the large number of 'unfencable' rivers, streams and nullahs that crisscross the region, and with smugglers, bandits, militants and illegal migrants forever trying to slip across, the Indo-Bangladesh border is in fact anything but peaceful, reports Rahul Karmakar.
The garo Hills and an adjoining stretch of Assam's border with Bangladesh are generally regarded as 'peace' areas. Officers and constables of the Border Security Force (BSF) are usually posted here after stints along the 'difficult' Indo-Pakistan or the Indo-Myanmar borders. But with the large number of 'unfencable' rivers, streams and nullahs that crisscross the region, and with smugglers, bandits, militants and illegal migrants forever trying to slip across, the Indo-Bangladesh border is in fact anything but peaceful.
Mankachar, located at the trijuncture of Assam, Meghalaya and Bangladesh, has long been a hot spot of border troubles. This strategic area is connected to the Indian landmass only through Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district, with the river Brahmaputra flowing past its western edge. Close by to the east, stands the, Kakirpara outpost of the BSF's 21st Battalion.
Across Kakripara, kissing the international border is the disputed village of Boraibari where the Bangladesh Rifles (the BSF's counterpart in that country) killed 18 BSF men in April 2001. Bangladeshi farmers like Afzal Hussain admit Boraibari belongs to India-it is a village in adverse possession of Bangladesh-but have no qualms about growing paddy there since it is on "our side of the fence".
In the second phase of border fencing, the old, worn-out single barbed-wire fence along this border is being replaced by a taller double-fence on a raised platform with a concrete base. The project has been completed from Shishumara on the southeastern bank of the Brahmaputra to a point beyond Sadartila towards Meghalaya. A troublesome, 40 km stretch beyond Mahendraganj in Meghalaya remains to be fenced. One hurdle is frequent protests from border villagers ostensibly against the government's delay in compensating them for the land acquired for the project. Whenever work is resumed, women, children and the elderly rush in to disrupt it.
"Why shouldn't we?" asks Nuruzzaman, secretary of Kamarpara village defence party . "It's been over a year since the government assured us Rs 60,000 per bigha as compensation. If we are skeptical, it's because we are yet to be paid the Rs 42,000 per bigha we were promised for the land acquired for border roads in 1985." Officials, though, claim that the real reason why many are against the fencing is that it will make smuggling of local cattle and contraband more difficult. Besides, many border villagers have relatives on the other side.
Smuggling cattle to Bangladesh is lucrative business. A Haryana breed bullock fetches Rs 30,000 in Bangladesh against Rs 16,000 in India. The illegal trade far away places as Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh shifted here after the sealing of the West Bengal border with Bangladesh. "It is difficult to catch the smugglers as local villagers claim the cattle as theirs," said a BSF inspector.
"We have seized many cattle and even killed eight smugglers in recent times, but given the lack of cooperation from villagers, checking the illegal business is impossible."
Aiding the cattle and ganja smugglers are north Indian "moneychangers" who operate hundis in Mankachar-they ex change cash at Rs 65 for 100 Bangladeshi Taka-and clandestine Bangladeshi SIM card dealers. Though Indian cell phone operators have reached the borders, Bangladeshi mobile towers close to the Zero Line ensure better connectivity.
The biggest "abettors" of crossborder crimes, however, are the large expanses of waterways. In the Garo Hills districts, a network of mountain streams flow into Bangladesh, widening near the border. Timber smugglers used the strong river currents, especially during the monsoon, to transport wood and bamboo to Bangladesh. "We use barbed concentric coils and hooks from the spans along the border roads to prevent the timber from flowing out, but the water current is often too strong for the trapping devices to work," said BK Jha, commandant of the BSF's 56th Battalion. "The new fencing and proposed floodlights should make patrolling more foolproof," said P Eapen, Commandant of the.V BSF's 1st Battalion. Of the 272 km Assam shares with Bangladesh, 90 km is riverine.
