SHILLONG, April 10 –The April 16, 2001 occupation of the small village of Pyrdiwah in Meghalaya, located along the Indo-Bangladesh border still haunts the villagers. The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) had surrounded the BSF post in Pyrdiwah, which is under “adverse possession” of Bangladesh and forcibly evicted the villagers on the morning of that fateful day.
The External Affairs Ministry was informed of the developments only on April 17. The matter was taken up strongly both in New Delhi and Dhaka the next day. The Bangladesh government acted swiftly to order the BDR to vacate Pyrdiwah within 24 hours. On the eve of the Lok Sabha elections, the question of security is utmost in the minds of the residents along the Indo-Bangla border.
Talking to reporters, residents of Pyrdiwah said, since this would be the first Parliamentary election since the intrusion into Pyrdiwah, they have decided to vote for the party which promises to address their problem. The villagers vividly remember promises made by the then union minister of state for home I.D.Swami ensuring them that “not a single inch of this land will go to the other side ofthe border.”
However,the villagers lamented the fact that not a single survey has been carried out by the Indian government, although the Bangladesh officials have conducted a series of surveys on the other side of the border. They exhorted the Central Government to conduct a border survey and involve local heads and sordars (traditional tribal chiefs) of the village in the process.
The villagers complained that the pillars demarking the areas under possession of the two neighbouring countries “keep changing” as Bangladeshis have been encroaching on Indian territory and whenever they conduct a survey, they inevitably move the pillars towards the Indian side. Apprehensions are still evident and one villager said: “I want to be in India but if the circumstances force me to be in Bangladesh I won’t mind because the land provides me Rs 2 lakh per annum. The Bangladesh government has been eyeing the fertile land here.”
The common fear amongst the border residents is that once an international border fencing project is undertaken to draw the lines, it is not sure which of the two countries they would find themselves in. The villagers want an amicable and permanent settlement of the border problem between India and Bangladesh.
There are several hundred voters in Pyrdiwah, which is a relatively prosperous village along the international border. But the villagers complain that roads and bridges as promised by the Centre are yet to see the light of the day although electricity to the village had been provided recently under Prime Minister’s package.
It may be mentioned here that in keeping with the 1974 Indira-Mujib agreement, around 4,090 kilometres of the border have been subsequently demarcated. Barely 6.5 km still remain to be demarcated. Some villages that are on the Bangladesh side of the border like Pyrdiwah remain in India’s possession and some Indian villages like Boraibari remain in the possession of Bangladesh. The 1974 agreement specifies that there should be no disturbance of the status quo in such “adverse possessions”. Bangladesh had alleged that India had disturbed the status quo in Pyrdiwah by constructing a road there.