SILCHAR: Indian farmers living in Harinagar village bordering Bangladesh in Assam's Cachar district resumed cultivation on about 220 acres of agricultural land, which lay virtually abandoned ever since skirmishes broke out between BSF and Bangladesh border guards in 2006.
On Tuesday, farmers-armed with tractors and other equipment-began cultivation of the land on the other side of the
Surma river and barricaded out by border fencing under full security cover of BSF, a senior official of the border guarding force said.
The agricultural land owned by Indian farmers beyond the Surma river was not being cultivated since August 2006 when troops of the then Bangladesh Rifles (now BGB) fired mortar shells and automatic weapons on the Indian side compelling BSF to retaliate befittingly, thereby causing serious casualties of civilians and border guard personnel on either side. Since then, neither the cultivation was done by the Indian villagers nor the joint verification of boundary pillars was carried out between the two border guard forces in the area.
The border villages of Harinagar, Kinokhal and
Chandinagar in Cachar district finally resolved the issue amicably which helped facilitate the genuine Indian farmers to cultivate their land beyond the Surma river up to the international border near pillar No. 1354 adjacent to
Barothakuri, a Bangladeshi village. This was possible by the all-out effort of BSF, said Rajesh
Kumar, commandant of 131 battalion of BSF at Harinagar.
He said the international boundary is well demarcated. But due to change of the course of the river which runs almost parallel to the boundary, a large chunk of 'char land' has formed. Kumar said since the working relationship between BSF and BGB is cordial due to the bilateral understanding between the governments of both the countries, the long pending issue of joint verification of boundary pillars was resolved on January 14 last year.
"We are happy that BSF has helped create a situation to cultivate our own land and harvest where we were unable to tread due to security reasons for more than a decade. This will help boost the financial condition of poor Indian villagers," said Mustaq Hussain Barbhuiya, a farmer from Harinagar village.
