Bangladesh, India border guards allow Bengalis to meet on new year

They waited for this reunion for a whole year.

They came in their thousands at the Amarkhana border in Panchagarh Sadar Upazila on the first day of the Bengali New Year to meet their relatives living across the border.

On this day, every year, the BGB and BSF allow Bengalis across the geographical divide to meet their relatives standing on either side of a barbed-wire fence.

Seventy-year-old Sabita Shil wanted to stretch this rare moment in her life as she met her granddaughter-in-law Chabi Shil, 28, after many years, on Tuesday.

“Don’t go away. Hang in here for some more time. I have been craving to see you for long.

“My days are numbered. Who knows, this might be our last meeting,” she pleaded.

Sharifa Khatun, 65, could not hold back tears of joy when she met her brother Karim Mandal, 60, who lives in Jaipaigurhi, after a decade.

The barbed-wire fence has come to be a chilling reminder of border killings after the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Felani Khatun on Jan 7, 2011 by the BSF. Her lifeless body had dangled haplessly for hours at the Phulbarhi border.

But on Pahela Baishakh, that very ominous fence facilitated scenes of bonhomie as thousands thronged there since morning to exchange greetings and see people they hold dear.

The much-awaited meeting started at 10am and lasted until 2:30pm. Some of those who came were seen exchanging gifts through the fence.

Locals say they were separated from their relatives after the Partition in 1947. However, in the 70s they could almost freely cross the border and be in touch with their relatives.

But all that changed in 1980s when a barbed-wire fence was put up.

Years later, the BGB and BSF agreed to reopen the border on Pahela Baishakh, allowing people on both sides of the fence to meet their loved ones.

Panchagarh 18 BGB Battalion Commander Lt Col Mohammad Ariful Haq remembered, “The BSF did not agree initially. But they eventually gave up to pressure from Indian citizens and agreed on the yearly meet.

“Security is ratcheted up on both sides and everyone leaves after the designated time.”

Amarkhana Union Parishad Chairman Md Nuruzzaman said the yearly meeting manifested the “power of love”.

“Thousands of people share their feelings. What’s the harm if they are given a little more time?”