Statesmanlike decisions

Credit to Centre, states for Bangladesh border settlement

Showing laudable statesmanship, the Union Cabinet cleared on Tuesday the 119th Amendment to the Constitution, meant to implement the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh. And the very next day, Wednesday, the Rajya Sabha passed the Amendment Bill with no votes against it. It had earlier appeared that a truncated version of the LBA would be presented to Parliament, in which disputed areas in the state of Assam would not be included. This was, correctly, being seen as an unacceptable capitulation to the Bharatiya Janata Party's local unit, whose politics in the region would have been well-served by keeping the issue of the Bangladesh border simmering. Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserves full credit for finally choosing to overlook this demand and moving ahead with the complete agreement. A truncated LBA would have been difficult to pass through Parliament, the Congress having declared its opposition to anything but the complete agreement, on the lines of what was signed between then prime minister Manmohan Singh and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, in 2011. The government's decision that settling the issue was more important than transitory political gain shows both wisdom and vision.

The leaders of the states abutting Bangladesh also deserve credit, in particular West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. Ms Banerjee made a statement from the north of her state, where many of the stranded enclaves are, supporting the Amendment Bill because it was "what the people want". And Mr Gogoi was in the forefront of efforts to ensure that Assam was not excluded from the final settlement. There has been sensible politics all around, given that the national interest is so obviously in moving this settlement forward.

While there were some questions, now settled, about the border abutting the states of Tripura and Meghalaya, and also the Assam-Bangladesh border, much of the human problem was with reference to the many enclaves along the border between Cooch Behar and Rangpur in northern Bengal. These two erstwhile princely states had, historically, an unusually poorly demarcated boundary - less of a problem when Bengal was united. However, in Partition, Rangpur went to East Bengal and Cooch Behar to the West. The almost 200 enclaves - many of which are located within other enclaves and some within enclaves of enclaves - are home to tens of thousands of people who are often cut off from basic services. A rationalisation has long been hoped for, but often thwarted by local politics. Indeed this has been a thorn in the side of India-Bangladesh relations. Dr Singh had managed to take a big step forward in signing the agreement. It took some time to fructify, but it is welcome that India looks like putting the problem behind it. Implementation must be smooth - as Ms Banerjee has said, funds must be made available for rehabilitation of any displaced individuals. This should also serve as a signal to a Bangladesh justly suspicious of Indian dilly-dallying in the implementation of such agreements that relations can move forward into an era of even greater cooperation.