Union home minister Shivraj Patil addresses jawans at the BSF headquarters in Kadamtala. Picture by Diptendu Dutta

Siliguri, Jan. 2: Union home minister Shivraj Patil today said it was the responsibility of the Election Commission of India to look into the voting rights of Indian nationals living in enclaves across the border in Bangladesh.

Patil, who arrived here from Guwahati this evening on a tour of the border areas of north Bengal, said his visit was mainly to get a first-hand impression of the working conditions in these places. ?The voting-rights issue is under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission,? he said.

Residents of the Indian enclaves had recently complained to the chief election commissioner of India B.B. Tandon against the denial of voting rights to them, despite having proper voters? identity cards and ration cards.

It, however, is not clear if Patil will also meet Bangshibadan Barman, the secretary of Greater Cooch Behar People?s Association, when he visits Tinbigha in Cooch Behar tomorrow. Leaders of the association, it is learnt, have approached the district authorities as well as the Union home ministry for a meeting with Patil.

The home minister said that he would monitor the work on the border fences during his visit. Apart from Tinbigha, Patil is also scheduled to visit Berubari.

Immediately on his arrival here, the home minister who was accompanied by director general of the BSF, R.S. Mooshahary, addressed a Sainik Sanmelan at the BSF headquarters. He later held a meeting with senior BSF officials posted in the region.

Berubari visit

The proposed half-an-hour visit of Union home minister Shivraj Patil to the Berubari-Manikgunj area of Jalpaiguri Sadar block tomorrow has raised hopes among residents of a possible solution to their decade-long crisis of national identity, reports our correspondent.

The problem of Berubari can be traced back to 1958 when the southern part of the area was included in what was then known as East Pakistan, in lieu of the Nehru-Noon Agreement. Residents of the area were angered by this decision and launched the Berubari Movement to demand the area?s inclusion in India. The problem was finally sorted out in 1974 through the Indira-Mujib Agreement which declared Berubari an integral part of India. The agreement, however, was not implemented and the issue resurfaced in 1989 during the demarcation of the India-Bangladesh border.

According to residents of the area, four ?sheets? (villages) ? 25, 28, 29 and 30 ? in the Berubari mouza fall under Bangladesh. There are, however, other areas like Nowtari-Debottor, Kajaldighi-Paranigram, Nowtari-Nawabgunj, Barashashi and Chilahati under South Berubari gram panchayat and Shingpara and Kshudipara under Nagar Berubari gram panchayat that are integral parts of India since Independence, but find no mention on the Indian map.