IN THE LAND OF RADCLIFFE'S GHOST

The unhurried sun-baked paths of these dusty villages seem to begin and end at some unknown place, haunted by the ghost of one English gentleman - Cyril Radcliffe. These villages are pregnant with pause. Time seem to have stopped ticking here since 1947. There is only fear here now with little socio-economic development.



However, this has not inhibited life to force out of the earth. Be it the verdant grass, full with juice, or the wild daffodils swaying with the humid air. There are also the occasional Mimosa plants, remaining, seemingly incommunicado, after several attempts to reach them. These are some of the villages dubbed "in adverse possession" (for whatever it means) near Pyrdiwah along the Indo-Bangla border in Meghalaya.


Here the Bangladeshi cow does not hesitate to graze on (Indian) grass. She lifts her head to take a glimpse at the approaching strangers. Seconds later, she resumes, nonchalantly, her munching. The area is dotted with 'T, sub and International boundary pillars'. From far off, they look like ink blots caused by a messy pen on a topographic map. The Azan from the distant Bangladeshi mosque wafted over these blotches.


Witnessing all these, it's easy to lose oneself, and accidentally tread inside Bangladeshi as if pushed by the Radcliffe ghost. Here too the air hangs humid, the Mimosa plants are equally ashamed. Only a sickle-wielding Bangladeshi charging across the uncultivated paddy fields can bring home the point of being in an 'unreal world'.


"Amrare marte aiso ni?" (Have you come to kill us"?) With this suspicion, he gathers his fellow men and queries: "Bandook diya ki korba… marba ni? (What are you doing with guns … want to kill us"?), pointing at the Border Security Force (BSF) Guards.


Meanwhile, a garden snake criss-crossed the International border with ease. The Border Security Force (BSF) did not worry much about the infiltration. "Apko kuch nahi karega… yeh zaheerila nehi hai,' (it won't harm you… it is not poisonous), echoed the border guards in unison of the Bangladeshi intrusion.


On further trekking upon the zero line inside the Indian side, the suspicion and misinformation (probably) spread like wild fire across the border. Children dashed off like wind. Disappearing behind plentiful Banana trees and Betel nut plantations. They left a trail of dust, chaos and tension in the air.  More Bangladeshi gathered and ran and walked parallel to the Indian team. All the while shouting across the border. There was perceptible pandemonium on the other side.


A woman in the Bangladeshi side, being probably misinformed of the Indians' visit, hurled the choicest expletives from near her thatched-hut doorstep. Her lament interspersed with abuses continued for at least 20 minutes until the Indian team found (thankfully) natural cover of the hills.


Finally, at Lyngkhat village (Lakhancherra in Bangladesh), the villagers gathered. The cameras and tripods intrigued hoards of children here. The Bangladeshi children too squatted and watched with amaze from across the International border about five feet away. Bangladeshi women bathed in a soiled stream nearby. 

There are no fences here, no words exchanged, between the two neighbours.  The BSF stood vigilant. The village is tagged "in adverse possession'' and claimed by Bangladesh. There are about 52 such land tagged "in adverse possession" in India claimed by Bangladesh. India claims for about 49 such land 'in adverse possession' of Bangladesh. These small pieces of land vary in size from 5 to 500 acres.


Moreover, there is the trickier issue of Enclaves. Enclaves are small pieces of land totally surrounded by a foreign country. There are 111 Indian Enclaves (known as Chits in Bangladesh) measuring 17, 258.24 acres in Bangladesh. Similarly, there are 51 such enclaves claimed by Bangladesh inside Indian Territory, covering 7,083.72 acres.


"We are scared," said, Thomlin Khongthohrem, with knitted brows, one of the village elders at Lyngkhat village. "Last year some of our people were dragged into Bangladesh", he laments. None knows what happened to them thereafter. Ironically, in his hut, commentary of a cricket match between Bangladesh and Kenya was being bawled out live on Bangladesh radio.


On being queried, if the children enjoyed cricket and the names of Indian cricket player, the village kids drew a blank. "We listen to whatever we get on the radio (read Bangladesh radio)," said one kid. "We love to play football," said another enthusiastic kid.


Here again a classic example of a Radcliffe goof up is the village football field. Half of the field is in India the other half in Bangladesh. The players effortlessly cross the International border during their games. All the football players here are, therefore, of International repute, literally speaking.


Does it feel weird playing simultaneously in two countries in a ninety-minute game of football? "No," said one of the young football players. "Never felt the differences, it is the same". Neither did Radcliffe! This English gentleman drew a straight line on a topographic map tragically dividing rivers, market places etc. He paid the least heed to ground realities. This English gentleman headed the Boundary Commission to partition India in 1947.


On trekking back towards Pyrdiwah village, everyone dreaded to pass through the patch where the Bangladeshi women had hurled abuses. But, she after the long tirade had probably decided to do something constructive… perhaps… get her chores done.  The April heat, at Pyrdiwah, was roasting the afternoon. Simol Khonglah was in a chirpy mood. She was one of the first villagers, who informed of the Bangladeshi incursion of Pyrdiwah way back in April 2001. Then, the village was besieged, house and crops damaged and looted for days by the Bangladeshis, helped by Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR) and its army. Villagers fled and remained in neighbouring villages for days then.


She says, the villagers here are 'not scared anymore', with the BSF re-enforcing itself after the incursion, from a Platoon to a Company.Nonetheless, the fact remains the BSF is greatly understaffed. The  normal distance of the Border out Posts (BOP) is between 5 to 8 kms. This distance is high by International standard. And with vast stretches of the total 4000 km of the Indo-Bangla border remaining unfenced, the BSF's task is cut out. In these unfenced stretches there are routine theft, murder and border related crimes perpetrated by Bangladeshis. However, New Delhi has not been able to fence these stretches due to Dhaka's insistence that such areas are her's.


Observers feel, New Delhi and Dhaka has not done enough to exorcise the ghost of Radcliffe in the eastern sector. There is perceptible fear and anxiety in these villages after all these years. These somewhat unreal places have real people living in there, which both countries need to acknowledge. These fears and a will to fight on are probably akin to the life in Bangladesh itself during Pakistan's occupation of that country. At that time people lived in dread of the Pakistani army's regime, but nonetheless fought on with their lives and gained independence with the support of New Delhi.


Famed Bangladeshi rebel poet Nirmalendu Goon wrote in his poem 'Firearm' of that occupation and the military diktat during that time, which is freightingly akin to the life of the people along the Indo-Bangla border in Meghalaya:


Frightened citizens, in accordance with military directives/ are depositing their shotguns, rifles, pistols and cartridges/ like promised offerings at some holy shrine/only I, disobeying the military directive, turned a mild rebel/ I am openly returning to my room, and yet with me rests a terrible firearm/my heart/ I didn't surrender it.