When Borders Shift, But Belonging Is Still Contested
2015 Land Boundary Agreement & the 2025 Identity Crisis
✍️ Suryavanshi IAS | UPSC Deep Insight Series | English Edition
📜 Part 1: The Historical Context — Land Belongs to Countries, But People Belong to Identities
In 1974, India and Bangladesh signed the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) to resolve the anomaly of enclaves — pockets of territory belonging to one country entirely surrounded by the other. For decades, people lived stateless lives — physically located in Bangladesh, but legally Indian, or vice versa.
✅ The 2015 Ratification
In 2015, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India ratified the LBA, enabling the exchange of 162 enclaves:
| Swap Summary |
|---|
| 🔁 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh transferred to Dhaka |
| 🔁 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in India incorporated into Indian territory |
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~14,000 enclave residents opted to migrate to India.
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They were issued Indian citizenship, travel passes, Aadhaar, and voter IDs.
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Resettlement camps were established in West Bengal in areas like Dinhata, Haldibari, and Mekhliganj.
These individuals are Indian citizens by law, yet, socially invisible, as we shall see.
🚨 Part 2: June–July 2025 — When the Police Forgot the Constitution
In June 2025, six Bengali-speaking men from Dinhata, West Bengal, working at a brick kiln in Haryana, were picked up by Delhi Police and accused of being illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
👤 The Victims:
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Former residents of Indian enclaves in Bangladesh
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Chose Indian citizenship in 2015
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Have been working in NCR for over 10 years
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Possessed all valid documents (Aadhaar, voter ID, citizenship certificates)
🚓 The Accusation:
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Police claimed they had Bangladeshi documents on their phones
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Remittance records to relatives in Bangladesh were cited as "evidence"
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Spoke Bengali, wore lungis — became objects of suspicion
Despite having documentation verified by local police in Haryana, they were:
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Detained illegally for up to 6 days
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Allegedly beaten and coerced into “confessing” they were Bangladeshi
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One woman and a child were also detained when they came to submit identity proof
“They beat the soles of my feet and my arms with a belt. They asked me to say I was Bangladeshi. I refused,” said one of the victims.
⚖️ Part 3: Constitutional, Ethical & Administrative Failures
🧾 Aadhaar ≠ Citizenship
Police claimed Aadhaar was invalid as proof. Technically, they are partially correct — Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship, but:
🔹 Victims had voter ID, travel passes, land papers, and were part of official LBA records.
Ignoring these is not just misgovernance — it is administrative violence.
📜 Violation of Constitutional Rights
| Article | Right Violated |
|---|---|
| 14 | Equality before law – Profiling on linguistic/religious grounds |
| 21 | Protection of life & liberty – Illegal detention, physical abuse |
| 22 | Right to be presented before magistrate within 24 hours |
Even Delhi Police admitted on July 9 that the detention was “illegal,” but denied custodial violence.
🔍 Linguistic and Religious Profiling
"Bengali-speaking Muslims are being hounded as Bangladeshis," alleged Trinamool MP Samirul Islam.
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The intersection of language, appearance, and religion is being used to stereotype entire populations.
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NCR residents with “non-Hindi” accents or cultural traits are increasingly viewed with suspicion.
🧠 UPSC Relevance – A Multi-Dimensional Issue
📘 GS Paper 2 – Governance, Polity, Rights
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Citizenship Law interpretation
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Federalism: Delhi Police acting beyond its jurisdiction (in Haryana)
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Role of State Welfare Boards (e.g., West Bengal Migrant Welfare Board)
🔬 GS Paper 3 – Internal Security, Border Management
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How illegal immigration is tackled administratively
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Challenges of identifying “genuine citizens”
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Surveillance tools vs privacy/freedom
🧭 GS Paper 4 – Ethics
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Violation of police code of conduct
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Moral duty to protect vulnerable migrants
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Dilemma: Security vs Human dignity
✍️ Mains Practice Question
Q. The 2015 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement resolved a historic territorial issue, but gaps in administrative awareness continue to challenge the dignity of new Indian citizens. Examine in light of recent detentions of enclave-origin migrants.
(250 words | GS Paper 2)
📚 Prelims Practice Questions (Bilingual)
Q1. Under the 2015 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement, how many enclaves were exchanged?
a) 51
b) 111
c) 162 ✅
d) 200
Q2. Which of the following is not valid proof of Indian citizenship?
a) Passport
b) Voter ID
c) Citizenship Certificate
d) Aadhaar ✅
Q3. Under which article can no person be detained for more than 24 hours without judicial oversight?
a) Article 14
b) Article 21
c) Article 22 ✅
d) Article 19
🧭 Suryavanshi IAS Takeaways
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Statelessness can persist even after State recognition, when institutions lack awareness.
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Language, food, and dress are cultural identities, not legal indicators of nationality.
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Being a citizen means nothing if you're always trying to prove it.
"Borders drawn on maps are easier to erase than the borders drawn in minds."
🧠 Suryavanshi IAS doesn’t just prepare you for UPSC. It prepares you to think like a citizen of conscience.
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