The memorial at Manikgunj market. Picture by Biplab Basak

Berubari (Jalpaiguri), Feb. 14: ?Rakto debo, pran debo, Berubari charbo na (We will shed blood, we will lay down our lives, but will not leave Berubari) reads the memorial at Manikgunj market.

To trace the reasons for the recent protest by local people that has brought Berubari ? 15 km from Jalpaiguri ? once again in the limelight, Jagadish Roy Pradhan points to the altar.

?Go and check out the Sankalpa Bedi. It carries the history with it. In 1961, an intensive movement was launched to save Berubari from forming a part of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). The time has come to renew the movement again,? said Roy Pradhan, the secretary of South Berubari Pratiraksha Committee.

In 1958, Nehru signed an accord with Feroze Khan Noon to hand over half of Berubari to East Pakistan. To protest against the move, residents launched the historical Berubari Movement on January 26, 1961. The committee was formed at that time.

Thousands of people led by local leader Hemanta Kumar Bose took an oath, by slashing their chest and drenching their hand in blood, to stop the handover of Berubari. The movement continued till 1974, when it was decided through a treaty between Indira Gandhi and Mujibur Rahaman (of Bangladesh) that Berubari would remain an integral part of India.

According to Pradhan and residents of the area, officials of CPWD recently surveyed the village to demarcate the border for the construction of a road and barbed wire fencing.

?We soon found out that they were following the old map on which half of Berubari is not charted. This means that 8,000 residents who have ration cards and voter identity cards would be completely detached from the mainland in case construction work starts. We have sent back the CPWD workmen and will not allow them if these villages are not included within the Indian territory. We will also revive our historical movement if they do not listen to us,? said Sarada Prasad Das, the joint secretary of the committee.

The disputed areas include Chilahati, Kajaldighi, Paranigram, Naotori-Debottor and Baroshoshi.

?We have a primary school here and as many as 6,000 Indian voters. How can the government detach us from main land and build fences? In case the CPWD officials listen to our demand, we are there to offer them voluntary service and even patrol the border to check smuggling and infiltration. Otherwise, we will launch a protest movement,? said Nripati Roy, a resident of Chilahati.

The surveyors are following the Radcliff line (as in the 1958 treaty) which is wrong in this case, feel local residents and Forward Bloc MLA Govinda Roy.

?It is the fault of the plotters who have drawn the map. They have left out these areas outside the Indian territory. I will also take up the issue with the state home ministry. Chilahati is my native village, which means according to the map, I am not a citizen of India,? said Roy.

?We will meet Pranab Mukherjee this month and request him to fix up an appointment with the prime minister,? Roy Pradhan said.

And as he left, Roy Pradhan, waved towards the memorial.

?Rakto Debo, Pran Debo, Berubari Charbo Na.?