Residents of a village near the India-Bangladesh border in Jalpaiguri have come up with a “unique” demand to remove the old pillars that used to mark the boundaries of India and erstwhile East Pakistan, which is Bangladesh now.

“After the 1947 partition, India and Pakistan conducted a joint survey and put up the pillars along the borders,” said 71-year-old Jatin Sarkar, a resident of Bakshipara in Baikunthpur-Teldhar area in South Berubari panchayat of the Jalpaiguri Sadar block.

“Since 1971, East Pakistan does not exist as Bangladesh was born. However, in our area, neither were new pillars installed nor was fencing put up. We still have old Pakistani pillars,” said the elderly villager.

“We want those pillars replaced by the triangular concrete pillars usually put along the India-Bangladesh border,” Sarkar added, but could not say how many old pillars stood.

Sources said that since the mid-1980s, the border has been marked by India and Bangladesh, and the pillars were put with the names of the countries written on them. However, some old “Pakistani” pillars remained.

Sarkar, a retired school teacher, recalled that in his childhood, he used to enter East Pakistan with cattle for grazing.

“There was no fence then. Security was porous. It was a different world,” said the
senior citizen.

“But now, after the recent terror attacks and the conflict, we don’t want the old pillars in our village, which remind us about East Pakistan and the atrocities of the Pakistani troops during the Bangladesh war,” he added.

Mujibur Rahman, another resident of Bakshipara who is now 80 years old, echoed Sarkar.

“After the 1971 war, the old pillars have no importance. The district administration, along with the BSF and other authorities, should take the initiative to remove the old pillars. We want triangular pillars in our area,” he said.

“Also, considering the volatile situation in Bangladesh, fences should be put up at the border near our village and a road be built along the stretch to ensure that the BSF can patrol properly,” Rahman added.

Another resident of Bakshipara pointed out that though they lived in an Indian village, their land documents were not updated. “Our ancestral land has not been transferred to our names by the land and land reforms department. Thus, we cannot sell the land to get loans from financial institutions,” said a villager.

The Dakshin Berubari Pratiraksha Samiti, an organisation flagging land and border issues before the administration and the government for years, has lent support to the demand.

“These pillars were installed after partition and have no purpose now. The recent attack by Pakistan has left villagers angry and they want the old pillars removed. We will take this issue up with the administration,” said Saradaprasad Das, the joint secretary of the samiti.