The Government of India informed the Bangladesh regarding the
ratification of 1974 Indira-Mujib pact, during the home secretary-level talks
on 19 July 2013.
- Indian
Government informed that it wanted to ratify the 1974 Indira-Mujib pact
for demarcation of boundaries and for exchange of 161 adversely held
enclaves with a population of about 50000 people.
- For
implementation of Indira-Mujib pact, Indian Government will have
to introduce a Constitutional Amendment Bill in parliament
according to Indian Constitution.
- The
Government of India is planning to bring a constitutional amendment Bill
during the forthcoming monsoon session, beginning August 5 2013, for
implementation of the Indo-Bangla land boundary agreement.
- Bangladesh
Parliament has already approved the land boundary deal, India needs to
introduce a constitutional amendment bill because its implementation involves
territory swap.
Indira-Mujib Pact 1974
• In 1974, India and Bangladesh entered into an agreement on
borders. Popularly known as Indira-Mujib Pact, the two signatories of the pact
were the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the Bangladesh Prime Minister
Mujib-ur-Rehman.
• This agreement sought to cover the demarcation
of the land boundary between the two countries and other related issues.
• Article 5 of the Agreement stipulated that: This agreement shall be
subject to ratification by the Governments of India and Bangladesh and
Instruments of Ratification shall be exchanged as early as possible.
• The Agreement shall take effect from the date
of the exchange of the Instruments of Ratification.
• On 28 November 1974 Bangladesh Parliament had passed
the Constitution (Third Amendment) Act, 1974 ratifying the Indira – Mujib
Accord.
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This Agreement was signed in two originals by both the Prime
Ministers on May 16, 1974. On November 28, 1974 Bangladesh Parliament had
passed the Constitution (Third Amendment) Act, 1974 ratifying the Indira –
Mujib Accord. Since passing this Amendment and ratifying this Agreement as per
Art 5 of it the Bangladesh Government has repeatedly taunted India for
not doing their bit by getting the same in Indian Parliament.
It is true that Government of India has not been
able to get the Parliament’s nod for the Agreement in all these four
decades.
One of the reasons could be the flawed
nature of the Agreement. In
the form it was agreed upon by both the former PMs that it would have certainly
created a huge backlash in India, at least over some sections of the Agreement.
- Almost
after 40 years the Government of India suddenly woke up and decided to
ratify the Agreement in our Parliament.
- Thankfully,
since this flawed agreement involves
Indian Territory being transferred to Bangladesh without any compensation
from the other side, it required an amendment to our Constitution
as well.
- In
an earlier case of Berubari transfer – the Supreme Court of India had
mandated that the Government can
only play with the territory of India through a Constitutional Amendment that
will have the support of the majority members of the Parliament
and two thirds of the members present.
The current session of the Parliament is likely to witness the
introduction of the Constitution Amendment Bill for the purpose of ratifying
the four-decades-old India – Mujib Accord.
Pending Issues
There are three major issues that are still pending calling for
implementation to make this agreement fully operational.
1. Border
There is a 6.1 kilometre long stretch on the border
between the two countries which is still not demarcated. It is spread
in three sectors;
Daikhata – 56 in West Bengal, Muhuri river – Belonia in
Tripura and Lathitila-Dumabari
in Assam.
2. Enclaves:
- The
partition of India in 1947 had created a peculiar situation in Bengal,
which was divided into two.
- A
total of 152 enclaves on
both sides became a contentious issue.
- Enclaves are land-locked areas in each country that don’t
belong to that country.
- There
were historical reasons for this situation, For instance, if the Nawab of Bengal had gifted land to a Sardar, perhaps
post Partition, the gifted part of the land remained in Pakistan, with the
rest of the Sardar’s territory becoming a part of Independent India.
- There
are about 111 such enclaves that
belong to India but remain to this day in Bangladesh territory.
- They
measure an area of approx. 17,161 acres.
- Similarly
there are 51 enclaves in India
measuring approximately 7,110 acres that belong to Bangladesh.
- All
the enclaves belonging to Bangladesh are located in the Coochbehar district of West Bengal whereas
all the Indian enclaves in Bangladesh fall in four districts – Panchagarh, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Nilphamari.
3. Adverse possession:
- The
third major issue is adverse possession.
- Adverse
possession means areas occupied by people of each country across its
boundary in the other country.
- These
are human encroachments leading to settlement of people for decades in
areas along undemarcated borders inside the territory of the other country.
- Although
it is very difficult to identify each and every adverse possession area
the two governments have so far identified 14 places where border
realignment is needed.
- Six
of them are in West Bengal; two are in Assam, five in Meghalaya and one in
Tripura.
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What INDIA can do to earn positively towards
this pact ?
- India should delete the clause of not demanding
compensation for the excess land being transferred to Bangladesh through
exchange of enclaves.
- Bangladesh should be asked to compensate for the excess
land that it is getting.
- Just as India leased land in perpetuity,
Bangladesh too can lease land to India, which is equivalent of the excess
land that it is getting along the narrow Chicken’s Neck area (Siliguri
corridor) .
That would be of great strategic help for India.
