Voting: A beacon of hope for those residing behind barbed wire border fences

For the 42 families living behind the barbed wire fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assams Karimganj district, life may be tough but they cast their votes in all elections, harbouring the hope of being a part of the mainland one day.The day in the lives of those families - 40 Hindus belonging to the Namasudra community and two Muslims - begin with the opening of the Border Gate No 36 at 6 am by BSF when they are allowed to go to work or school but they must return to their village by 7 pm.

For the 42 families living behind the barbed wire fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam's Karimganj district, life may be tough but they cast their votes in all elections, harbouring the hope of being a part of the mainland one day.

The day in the lives of those families - 40 Hindus belonging to the Namasudra community and two Muslims - begin with the opening of the Border Gate No: 36 at 6 am by BSF when they are allowed to go to work or school but they must return to their village by 7 pm. The gate opens beyond this timeframe only during emergencies.

Gobindapur village remained outside the barbed wire as according to the border protocol signed between India and Bangladesh, fencing or any construction can only be done at least 150 yards away from the actual line of the border but in case of Karimganj, it was reduced to 50 yards, due to the River Kushiara flowing along the boundary. ''We face a lot of difficulties. Our forefathers have lived here for many decades before Independence. We want the authorities to provide us with land to settle on the other side of the fence but we are mostly ignored by political parties,'' he 41-year old Shibu Namasudra told PTI.

''All villagers, however, are sincere about exercising their votes as it reassures us that we are Indians and not just a part of the No-Man's Land,'' he said. There has been no campaigning in the village by any of the 24 candidates in fray in the Karimganj constituency and the only sign of electioneering is a single poster of a contestant put up by some villagers. ''The candidates do not come to our village to campaign. Sometimes their supporters visited us but this time nobody came,'' Namasudra told PTI. The village has a population of 211 people, including 12 Muslims, and 145 of them have the right to vote and there are no 'doubtful voters' here, he said. Doubtful voters are those who could not provide evidence in favour of their Indian nationality.

Since no polling stations exist in their hamlet, they go outside the gate to cast their vote at a primary school in the opposite border village of Kurikhala.

"There is no school in the village. Our children have to go to a school Kurikhala but during rainy seasons they miss classes frequently due to water-logging," said another villager Nalin Namasudra.

The villagers are engaged in agriculture and fishing while some others also work as daily wage earners in the nearby town.

''We have requested the authorities several times to rehabilitate us on the other side of the fence since we cannot go far to earn a livelihood with the gates closing at 7 pm. It appears all of us are confined to the village," Nalin said.

Sulekha Namsudra, who works in a school as a mid-day meal cook, said she has to travel daily to Kurikhala and earn a salary of Rs 1,000 per month but sometimes they are not paid for months. ''After a long struggle, I have got a house under the PM Awas Yojana but not the other schemes that women are entitled to in the state'', he said. A former Panchayat member Anil Namasudra said the villagers are deprived of the benefits of many schemes but ''we get free ration regularly and the BSF helps us in all possible manner''. Getting married is another problem that the villagers, particularly young men, face. "Nobody wants to send their daughters to the village behind the fence while some men are also not willing to marry girls from here,'' Shibu said.

A major annual event in the village is the four-day Durga Puja festivities which is organised with the help of the BSF and all the 42 families participate in it.

''We participate in all the festivals, meetings and family functions in the village and though there are only two Muslim families, we have never felt isolated here,'' said 55-year-old Badrul Haque.

''The villagers stay behind the gates from 7 pm to 6 am but in case of any medical or other emergency, we are there to help and take them to the nearby town for treatment even after the stipulated time,'' a BSF official said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)