Rajesh Kumar Behera in Kendrapara, Orissa
Though it may sound strange that some families living in this coastal part of Kendrapara district have Bangladeshis infiltrators and Indians under the same roof .Thanks to the faulty enumeration drive for identifying the Bangladeshi infiltrators undertaken b y the Revenue officials of Kebdrapara district administration on last 2004 for which some families were divided into Indians and Bangladeshis.
If sources are to be believed as many as five families were residing in Bengali speaking dominated Luna Gheri village under Baulakani GP of Mahakalapada block where both Indians and Bangladeshis were residing and sharing their meals with each other .Due to the faulty and erroneous drive undertaken by the district administration on last 2004 ,some of the family members ,who were identified as Bangladeshis and against whom the state home department slapped Quit India Notice on 2005 January last, were bearing the burnt of Bangldeshis infiltrators,
While two brothers have been living under the same roof , one is leading a cursed life as the district administration denied him to enjoy any government benefits after he was slapped quit India notice where as another brother ,who was termed as Indian ,have been living a relaxed life by enjoying all the government benefits .
According to one Tusar Biswas ,of Luna Gheri, ”We are a 5-member family. While I , my wife , my 14 years old daughter Rina Biswas , and 10-year old son Karn Biswas are branded as Bangladeshis and the state government also slapped Quit India Notice to us. whereas my four year’s old son Kamlesh Biswas has not been branded as Bangladeshis”.
How it will be possible ,when my two children and we the husband and wife were termed as Bangladeshis then how my youngest child become Indian? , asked Tusar Biswas .
Though we possessed all the valid documents to prove ourselves as Indians but the district administration allegedly without seeing our documents termed us quit India notice , alleged Biswas.
Such is the fate of Giren and Basant Mandal of Luna gheri village, whose families were slapped Quit India notice by the state government .But ironically their another brother’s family have not got Quit India Notice, informed villagers of Giren Mandal.
According to Giren mandal , his father along with his three brothers had come to India about 45 years back . His father had also stayed at the refugee camp in 1964 at West Bengal and later they came to Orissa and settled under coastal Mahakalapada block
He possessed voter Identity card, BPL card, Land records , also he got Indira Awas Yojan.His children were brought up in Mahakalapada and also studied in the local schools and colleges .But, he along with six other family members were slapped Quit India notice . The district administration had also slapped Quit India Notice to 19 members of his eldest brother, Basant Mandal’s family. But his middle brother , Jiten Mandal’s family did not get Quit India Notice.
When the family members of our three brothers were living under a same roof , then how one become Indian and two brothers were termed as Bangladeshis , informed 60 years old Giren..
Had the officials ,who were entrusted by the district administration to prepare and identify Bangladeshi infiltrators , come to the village during the enumeration drive and would have surveyed by going door to door , then such thing might have not occurred .
It may be noted here that the Union government had asked the state government to serve Quit India notice ,under Foreigner’s Act, 1948, to at least 1551 Bangladeshi immigrants, who had come to the seaside villages after 16th December 1971 and have been residing in the coastal pockets of Mahakalpada block.
But several villagers of Luna gheri village allegedly showed their documents that they were residing in these parts before 1971 and also possessed refugee registration card .Since then the state government slapped them Quit India notices.
The Union Home ministry’s quit India notice asking the illegal settlers to leave the country for good had been issued on January 15, 2005, but it had been kept in abeyance since then because of blunders in the exercise to detect foreign nationals.
In the mean time, the ‘foreign’ stigma attached to the families has put them in an unenviable situation. To compound their woes, the people, divested of citizenship rights, find banks shutting their doors on them and also allege being regularly harassedby the police for bribes to get things done.
When contacted the Sub collector of Kendrapara ,Ranjan kumar Dash, informed that things will be settled down as the drive for providing Electronics Identity Card has started under coastal security . The district administration would verify the detailed documents of the Bangladeshis ,who were slapped Quit India Notice. If they were found that they were coming to the country and settled before 16th December 1971, then the district administration would take necessary steps in this regard.
