The India-Bangladesh border conflict

SOME HISTORICAL  BACKGROUND

Origins of the conflict: The British Raj

Until 1947, the administrative divisions in the current India  which were then under British governance were collectively called Provinces of India. In fact, the British dominated the subcontinent from 1858 to 1947 during the period called British Raj, and the empire comprised not only about two thirds of the present-day India, but also Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Before the start of the British Raj, the present-day India was constituted by the “British India”, which were the territories ruled by the British East India Company, and the “Native or Princely States”, which were British vassal states who had an indigenous Indian ruler, subject of the British Crown.

However, the British started to take away more and more power from the Hindu princely states, which saw how methods such as the one named “doctrine of lapse”, which consisted of the British prohibiting an Hindu ruler from designing a successor in order to ultimately have control over the ruler’s original land, were undermining their governance. Added to that, the cultural, economic and political life in India was increasingly affected by a process of Westernization, which made the Indian society’s discontent grow.

As a consequence the Bengal army started a rebellion, the Indian Mutiny or Sepoy Mutiny, which started in late March 1857 and officially ended on July 8, 1858 with the victory of the British. It is estimated that during the conflict, which expanded from Meerut to many parts of the subcontinent, including Delhi, 150.000 people were killed in the princely state of Oudh alone, 100.000 of which were civilians. Apart from the high death toll, the consequences of the rebellion included the abolition of the East India Company, since India became governed directly by the British government ( Queen Victoria became the Empress of India) and the reorganization of the Indian administration and army. However, the most important change took place within the Indian society, which abandoned its traditionalism and started to become more Western, a process that triggered the emergence of a powerful middle class with strong feelings about Indian nationalism.

The bright sight of the British Raj is that development became a priority.A railway network was established, irrigation schemes and telegraph lines were built, sanitation and lightning were enhanced and education became available to all children. Despite all this progress the problem of famine was still unsolved, as  the crisis of 1876 and 1877, where 58 million people had to deal with food shortages due to severe droughts, proved. In fact, the situation of starvation became even worse during the droughts of 1895 and 1896,which caused a much larger number of deaths. Added to that, some great pandemics, such as the cholera pandemic in 1820, the Third Pandemic of plague and leprosy  triggered high death tolls in the British Raj.

It must be noticed that, in fact, the British economy survived the late 19th century recession thanks to the establishment of India as a source of the country’s exports. Indeed, the tariffs in the subcontinent lowered to receive British textiles, and British imports became 60% of the total number of India’s imported products. On the other hand, India exported rice, wheat, raw cotton and tea; thus, it can be said that both parties benefited from the trading system established during this period.

When it comes to the government of the Raj, it was mainly constituted by British officials,and it was headed by the viceroy and the other members of his council, which altogether formed an executive council. Later on, and after the Indian Councils Act in 1861, it started acting as a cabinet, as well as as part of an imperial legislative council. The 11 provinces of India were under the rule of their own governor, aided by appointed officials. A small number of Indian council members part of the local elite were sometimes consulted, but they had no actual influence on the legislative and executive system.

Around the year 1880  the new Indian middle class, who had had access to education, started to cultivate a feeling of irritation towards the British Empire, which had been also triggered by a constant racial discrimination in the Raj. Nationalism became more and more popular among the citizens, ultimately leading to the creation in 28 December 1885 of the Indian National Congress by seventy professionals and intellectuals from this Indian middle class.

The formation of the Indian National Congress is seen by experts as a key turning point in the Raj’s history. However, even if the Congress ultimately became a mass organisation who achieved broad consensus despite India’s deversity, opposed opinions from its members created some conflict within the organisation. The most remarkable separation between the Congress’ members was that between those who believed that the use of violence was justified to fight the imperial power , and those who promoted non-violence. From the group of those members who promoted non-violence must be stressed the figure of Mahatma Ghandi, who supervised three nationwide pacific movements in 1920-1922,1930-1934 and in 1942.

It was during the Second World War, when the British entered India into the war without previous consultation, that the division of the Indian population became stronger. Some wanted to support the British, since they had promised independence for India if they helped them win the Battle of Britain; others were skeptical about Britain keeping any promises. Despite the different points of view India ended up fighting in the war through the British Indian army, which with 2.250.000 soldiers became the largest all-volunteer army in history.

In July 1942, during the war, the Indian National Congress demanded complete independence from Britain in a resolution, threatening the imperial power with a massive civil disobedience in case of not being approved. As a result, a month later started the Quit India Movement, which was massive and peaceful at the beginning, involving large-scale protests, demonstrations all over the country and strikes. Soon the principle of non-violence promoted by Ghandi was substituted by bomb attacks on allied supply convoys,the disconnection of electricity lines and government buildings being set on fire. To eliminate the conflict, nationalists leaders were ultimately imprisoned.

Now, it is important to bear in mind that the then Raj was composed not only by Hindus, but also by the Muslim community, who represented 20% of the total population and who founded the Muslim League in 1906 in order to have a voice in the imperial structure. Despite being very different faiths, Muslims and Hindus co-existed quite peacefully during a long period of time, although violent clashes between them happened from time to time. This is crucial to understand why India’s independence from the British would only be possible with the separation of the two religious populations.

Going back to the Second World War, in January 1946 after the conflict many mutinies took place in the armed services; and, although they were suppressed fast, the Indian population supported them. The same years, the Congress won the elections in eight of the eleven provinces, and the Labour government of Britain, tired after the World War II, decided to finally approve the independence of India, with the transfer of power taking place by June 1948.

However, this transferring of power ended up taking place in 1947, since the conflict between Hindu and Muslim communities was rapidly escalating. In June 1947, the leaders of the Congress and the Muslim League reached an agreement to divide the country along religious lines, the Hindu and Sikh communities being assigned to the new India and the Muslim ones to the new nation of Pakistan. This decision triggered the movement of many millions of refugees from all faiths who moved to the country of their own religion, as well as some extremely violent confrontations between the borders after the Sikh regions had been divided in two. However, and despite all difficulties, the 14th of August 1947 the Dominion of Pakistan came into being; a day later, on the 15th  of August 1947 ,India finally became an independent country.

British India and Princely States, 1858 map

Bangladesh as an independent country: The Bangladesh Liberation War

After the partition of India on 1947, Pakistan became indeed an independent country, which was formed by the so called West Pakistan and the East Bengal or East Pakistan ( the current Bangladesh). The former consisted of four provinces, including Punjab, Sindh, the North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan, which were much more wealthy than the East part, even though this last one was much more populated.

But one of the main issues of the new Pakistan was religion: while 97% of the population in the West were Muslim and more conservative, in the East about 15% of the inhabitants were non-Muslim, specially Hindus. Another key difference between the two areas was language; in 1948, Urdu was established by the Pakistani authorities as the only official language, although it was in fact much less popular than Bangla, spoken by the majority of the population. This decision led to protests from students and civilians, and many lost their lives on February 21, 1952.

All these events and differences triggered a rise of the separatist movement in East Pakistan, and the growing conflict reached a clímax when the biggest East Pakistani political party , the Awami League,won the national elections in 1970. However, the leader of Pakistan People’s Party, the other political wing, refused to let the winners play any role in the political System, which led to a nation-wide strike.

The conflict escalated more and more every time, and on the night of March 25, the Pakistan Army began a violent operation to stop the Bengali separatist movement. The events of that nights are currently defined as genocide, since there was a massive ethnic elimination all around Bangladesh, and the city of Dakha was set on fire. The next day, following the horrible attacks to the Bengali population and the arrest of the Awami League members, an exiliated leader from the same political party declared the independence of Bangladesh over radio, and an official declaration was signed. Hence, March 26 is considered to be the official Independence Day. The independence of Bangladesh was ultimately gained after the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, and the new country was finally  recognised

The Bangladesh Liberation War, as portrayed by Raghu Rai

THE INDIA-BANGLADESH BORDER CONFLICT

During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, Bangladesh received the help of India in its fight for independence. Since  the conflict, India occupied a small piece of land close to the border, near the village of Pyrdiwah. On April 8, 2001, border troops from Bangladesh occupied the territory, starting a confrontation with the Indian forces that triggered 18 deaths. The clashes ended with India getting its former land back, and after the withdrawal of the opposition troops, a Bangladeshi soldier was killed in exchange.

The use of automatic weapons and mortars led to an extremely violent atmosphere that forced the inhabitants living in the border villages to leave. Between 10.000 and 20.000 people abandoned their living places, many of which were destroyed or severely damaged during the conflict.

After the intense confrontation, both the Indian and the Bangladesh government began border talks. Until then, the relations between the two countries had been cordial and peaceful, although there had been some exchanges of fire in the past.

To better understand the conflict in geographic terms, it must be noticed that the border between India and Bangladesh was riddled with 162  enclaves, which are pieces of a country completely surrounded by another country. In this case, the enclaves between the two countries are specially complicated, since there are up to third order enclaves ( that is to say, an Indian enclave which is located in a Bangladesh enclave that is located in an Indian enclave, which at the same time is in Indian territory). Indeed, the enclave of Dahala Khagrabari was the only enclave of this nature in the world.

Map illustrating the Dahala Khagrabari enclave

The problem for the enclaves' inhabitants was that they often found  it difficult to have access to basic resources such as water, since Bangladesh and India were unwilling to share anything. Services were also limited by borders, leading to catastrophic situations that could have been easily avoided ( for instance, a man in an enclave having a heart attack was left unattended by the other country’s medical services).

If the enclaves’ inhabitants wanted to leave their land, they needed a visa, which they could only get by travelling to their own embassy, something they could not  do unless they have a visa. This completely contradictory situation stranded  them in their enclaves, without any possibility of leaving.

As a matter of fact, the enclaves along the border between India and Bangladesh already existed when the British first came into scene; however, India could not switch the enclaves with Bangladesh, since this action would be sending the wrong message to other countries, which might have wanted to get some Indian land. In 1974, the two sides signed the Agreement Concerning the Demarcation of Land Boundary, referred to as 1974 LBA, but India did not ratified it; thus, issues remained concerning the possession of enclaves.

 2015 map of the India- Bangladesh border

It was not until  as recently as June the 6th 2015, that India decided to finally ratify the agreement. The historical agreement ended once and for all the border disputes between the two countries, putting an end to a conflict that directly affected more than 50.000 people. However, the agreement meant to many leaving what had  been their country for often a very long time, since the new ownership of the territory was opposite to their nationality  . In addition, the enclaves’ inhabitants had to choose whether they wanted  to get the Indian or the Bangladeshi passport, triggering a change of identity by many. The swap also caused problems to family with members from different nationalities, which were unable to relocate.

The representatives of India and Bangladesh, putting an end to the conflict in 2015





BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ansari, Sarah. “How the Partition of India Happened – and Why Its Effects Are Still Felt Today.” The Conversation, The Conversation, 23 May 2018, http://theconversation.com/how-the-partition-of-india-happened-and-why-its-effects-are-still-felt-today-81766 
           

SOUTH ASIA | India-Bangladesh Border Battle, BBC News, BBC, 18 Apr. 2001,http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1283068.stm
         

Kazmin, Amy. India and Bangladesh Settle Border Dispute. Financial Times, Financial Times, 7 June 2015, www.ft.com/content/23430020-0cd1-11e5-b850-00144feabdc0

Tasch, Barbara. One of the World's Strangest Border Disputes Is Officially Over. Business Insider, Business Insider, 3 Aug. 2015, www.businessinsider.com/india-bangladesh-border-dispute-over-2015-8

Ansari, Sarah. How the Partition of India Happened – and Why Its Effects Are Still Felt Today. The Conversation, The Conversation, 23 May 2018, http://theconversation.com/how-the-partition-of-india-happened-and-why-its-effects-are-still-felt-today-81766

Chopra, P.N., et al. A Comprehensive History of India. Google Libros, Google, https://books.google.es/books?id=RAON5AW4yUEC&pg=PA118&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Explore Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/.

What Was the British Raj? Canada, www.britishempire.me.uk/britishraj.html.

Info:Main Page,ama Masjid, Delhi - New World Encyclopedia, www.newworldencyclopedia.org

Ministry of External Affairs, government of India, "India-Bangladesh relations", September 2017,https://www.mea.gov.in/Portal/ForeignRelation/Bangladesh_September_2017_en.pdf

Philiphs, Matthew, Resolving the Absurd into Bangladesh Border Complexities. 26 Sept. 2014, 
https://thediplomat.com/2014/09/resolving-the-absurd-indo-bangladesh-border-complexities
                  
Tasch, Barbara, One of the world's strangest border disputes is officially over,Business Insider, August 3 2015, http://www.businessinsider.com/india-bangladesh-border-dispute-over-2015-8




Ministry of External Affairs, government of India, India & Bangladesh: Land Boundary agreement,https://www.mea.gov.in/Uploads/PublicationDocs/24529_LBA_MEA_Booklet_final.pdf



India, Bangladesh settle 41-year-old border dispute, ink 22 agreements, News 18,June 6 2015 ,https://www.news18.com/news/india/india-bangladesh-settle-41-year-old-border-dispute-ink-22-agreements-1002652.html