Refugees in Their Own Land: The Forgotten People of the Indo-Bangladesh Enclaves

The Chitmahals are pockets of lands located in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya, as well as in Bangladesh, which owed their political allegiance respectively to Bangladesh despite being surrounded by India, and vice versa. Tamoha Majumdar writes about the people of the Chhitmahals, and their contested histories.

Shifting homes and a troubled past— Understanding enclave existences of the Indo- Bangla borders

 

Deboleena Sengupta

The borderland is not just a straight-line, but a way of life for the borderlanders—a space to adapt, reject and negotiate with the interests of two sovereign nations.

On 8 October 2016, my friend and I reached Chhit Bangla (also known as Chhit– Tiloi), which used to be a fragmented territory of Bangladesh that fell in India. This place currently overlaps Char Balabhut which falls under Tufangaj, a sub division of Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. Bits of the land are further fragmented at places by Dhubri district of Assam. The Char (meaning a sandbar or river island) is separated from the mainland by the ‘International waters’. Across the waters, in Chhit– Bangla we met a woman, introduced as Kaushinmoi Bewa, the sole inhabitant of the region, who lived there with her daughter.

[Kaushinmoi]