Mamata softens on LBA

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said her state government would agree to the exchange of enclaves with Bangladesh "if there was no problems from the other side", reports the 'Hindustan Times'.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 3 June 2014, 03:59 AM
Updated : 3 June 2014, 12:16 PM

But it was not clear what she meant by the 'other side'.

The Narendra Modi government has already said it would agree unconditionally to the exchange of enclaves between the two countries, the HT report said.

India signed a Land Boundary Agreement to facilitate the exchange of the enclaves in 2011 during former prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka.

But opposition by Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bharatia Janata Party (BJP) blocked the passage of a bill in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament that was required to formalise it.

The BJP finally stopped opposing its passage after Bangladesh’s then foreign minister Dipu Moni met BJP's leader in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley (now Modi's finance minister) and explained to him the significance of implementing the agreement.

Manmohan's foreign minister Salman Khurshid could finally place the bill in the last winter session of the Indian parliament despite stiff opposition from Trinamool Congress and Asom Gana Parishad.

Banerjee, who arrived in Siliguri in north Bengal on Monday to chair an administrative meeting for the districts of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling, said her government had nothing against the proposed move to foster better mobility between people residing in enclaves on both sides of the border.

"We are holding talks on the proposal and have no problem to fostering better exchange among people living in enclaves in our two countries," Banerjee told reporters late on Monday.

The 111 Indian enclaves are spread over 17,158 acres of land and has a population of 37,369.

They are spread across four districts in Bangladesh - Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Panchagarh.

The 51 Bangladesh enclaves, all located in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, are spread over 7,110 acres of land and have a population of 14,215.

In the past, several attempts were made by India and Bangladesh to foster better exchange among dwellers on both sides of the border.

The Nehru-Noor treaty of 1958 (when Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan) and Indira-Mujib treaty (1974) were inked with the view to resolving the problem.

But, the contentious issue could not be resolved due to the opposition by various political parties and the then Bengal government.

Banerjee's statement on Monday is being seen as a positive development.

The Bengal chief minister had earlier opposed to the exchange move, arguing that while Bengal will get only about 7,000 acres, it will have to concede nearly 17,000 acres.

There is a talk that Bangladesh wanted to retain Dahagram-Angorpota, the biggest Bangladeshi enclave.

Unlike in other enclaves, life in Dahagram-Angorpota in Coochbehar district is somewhat easy.

India has allowed a 178-meter-long corridor for the people of Dahagram-Angorpota to reach the other side of the border from June 20, 1992, the HT report said.