13 stranded in no man's land as India, Bangladesh deny to recognise their citizenship

Thirteen people were left stranded in no man's land in the India-Bangladesh border, including a woman and a newborn. The Indian Border Security Force on Wednesday attempted to deport 67 individuals through the Koch Bihar border in West Bengal. Bangladesh took back 54 of them but refused to take back the remaining 13, questioning their citizenship.

They were left stranded on the zero line. Bangladeshi leaders accused India of ‘pushing in’ undocumented citizens. It stressed that these actions are challenging the sovereignty of Bangladesh. It insists that if there are any illegal immigrants in India, then they should be sent back through a diplomatic channel; this sort of action is dehumanising at the very least. India claims that the number of such immigrants is huge, making the process a burden for the administration.

India and Bangladesh are separated by a 4,096.7-km-long border, and these skirmishes along the border show the growing hostility between the two nations. The long stretch of the border is not properly fenced. India has recently started work on fencing the border, which was blocked by the Bangladesh Border Security Force in January, causing a controversy.

Ties between India and Bangladesh have been souring over the years, these can be attributed to the political developments in both nations. Since 2014, there has been a growing anti-immigrant rhetoric in New Delhi, citing security risks. On the other hand, since the ousting of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ties with the Chief Advisor of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, have not been positive for New Delhi.

Yunus famously said in a meeting with Chinese diplomats, “We are the guardians of the sea, the seven northeastern states of India are landlocked, connected to India via a strategic chicken neck.”

Even though the meeting was about inviting economic investments from China, the mention of the strategic chicken neck must have sounded alarm bells in New Delhi.