[🇧🇩] Independent Bangabhumi----A Threat to Bangladesh's Territorial Integrity.

[Saif]

Bangabhumi

Bangabhumi (Bengali: বঙ্গভূমি, meaning the land of Vanga, also spelt Bongobhumi) also known as Bir Banga (Bengali: বীর বঙ্গ), is a separatist movement to create a Bengali Hindu country for Bangladeshi Hindus in southwestern Bangladesh, envisioned by Banga Sena. Banga Sena (English: Vanga Army) is a separatist[1] Hindu organization which advocates formation of a Bangabhumi for Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh. The group is led by Kalidas Baidya.

The movement was founded in 1973 in India soon after the independence of Bangladesh to support the Hindu refugees from Bangladesh, who were targeted by the Pakistan Army in the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities. However, this movement did not receive much support at that time. In an interview with BBC News in 2001, Chittaranjan Sutar, one of the alleged organisers of the movement, denied supporting the creation of a new nation.

Major General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, the Director General of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), in a talk with the Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) Ajay Raj Sharma in 2004 said that the extremist group Banga Sena was carrying out terrorist and secessionist activities against Bangladesh from its bases in the Indian state of West Bengal. Khodeza Begum in an article in the Global Politician accused India of helping to organize the Banga Sena.

In March 2006, a senior official of the home ministry of Bangladesh expressed concern over the anti-Bangladesh activities by the Banga Sena. Regarding this he added that Bangladesh wants a peaceful border with neighboring India and the situation has vastly improved following coordinated border patrolling by both countries. A Bangladeshi official stated that the organization is a "threat to the sovereignty of Bangladesh".

More than 400 members of the Banga Sena were arrested in India on 18 February 2003, for trying to cross over into Bangladesh from the district of North 24 Parganas in southern West Bengal. According to police sources, activists belonging to the organization began gathering at the Indo-Bangladesh border at Halencha, North 24 Parganas in the jurisdiction of the Bagda police station since morning that day.

In January 2004, the director general of the Bangladesh Rifles gave a list of the camps of the remaining Shanti Bahni elements in the North-East Indian states of Tripura and Assam and in adjoining Indian provinces to the director general of the Border Security Force. The list documented that the Banga Sena, along with several other groups, carried out communal tension and separatist activities against Bangladesh from West Bengal. Indian Foreign Secretary said that India will cooperate in tackling the Banga Sena and other insurgent groups. In September 2007, the representatives of two NGOs, Diphu Citizen Peace Forum and Karbi Human Rights Watch, in the Karbi Anglong District of Assam said that the Banga Sena was involved in extortion and it could pose a threat to the peace in the region.

Regarding the activities of the Banga Sena, the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury made it clear that his country will not tolerate any statement or move against its territory or sovereignty. The All India Minority Forum, an organization for religious minorities in India, also expressed concern over this organization.​

 

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BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Bangladesh alleges 'separatist plot'

Bangladesh alleges 'separatist plot'

Hindu families fled to India after the elections

The Home Minister of Bangladesh, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, says that some members of the country's minority Hindu community are engaged in a plot to promote separatism in the country.

Mr Chowdhury told the mass-circulation Bengali-language newspaper Ittefaq that a movement was being revived to create an independent country comprising several south-western districts of Bangladesh.

He was quoted as saying that the movement aimed to establish what he called "Bangabhumi" and that personnel were being recruited and camps established inside India near the border with Bangladesh.

The comments come in the wake of reported violence against Hindus in Bangladesh after the October general election, won by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Hundreds of families fled to the Indian state of West Bengal, saying they had suffered violence and rape.

Charge denied

Mr Chowdhury named two people - Kalidas Baidya and Chittaranjan Sutar - as leaders of the alleged separatist plot.

However, Mr Sutar has strenuously denied the allegations against him.

He told the BBC's Bengali service that he did not believe in a two-nation solution to the question of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh.

He said the allegations were part of a plot to discredit his name.

There has been no clarification from Mr Chowdhury about his comments as he is out of the capital Dhaka.

Bangabhumi, the movement for a separate Hindu homeland, was reportedly first launched after the 1975 military coup in Bangladesh, when many Hindu leaders fled to India.

Most of them belonged to the Awami League party, which was forced from power in the coup and whose leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was killed.

The BBC's Waliur Rahman in Dhaka says that although the movement itself was much-talked about for a decade or so, there was never any concrete evidence that it existed.​

 

[Saif]

Independent Hindu Republic of Bangabhumi (saffron) & Buddhist Republic of Chakmaland (yellow) separating Bangladesh.

 

[Saif]

Bangabhumi Conflict

Bangabhumi (Bengali: বঙ্গভূমি, meaning the land of Bengal) also known as Bir Bango (Bengali: বীর বঙ্গ), is a separatist movement to create a Hindu country using southwesternBangladesh, envisioned b…

theconflictwatch.wordpress.com

Bangabhumi Conflict

Bangabhumi (Bengali: বঙ্গভূমি, meaning the land of Bengal) also known as Bir Bango (Bengali: বীর বঙ্গ), is a separatist movement to create a Hindu country using southwesternBangladesh, envisioned by Banga Sena of Bangladesh.

The movement was founded in 1973 in India soon after Bangladeshi independence to support the Hindu refugees from Bangladesh, who were targeted by the Pakistani army in the1971 Bangladesh atrocities based on ideas of reconquest.However, this movement did not receive much support at that time. In an interview with BBC in 2001, Chittaranjan Sutar, one of the alleged organisers of the movement, denied any existence of the movement at that time. The movement openly became active again in 2003 when it declared the independence of Hindu Republic of Bangabhumi.

The flag of the proposed Bangabhumi state comprises one third green color and two third of saffron color. In the middle of the saffron part is a white disc symbolizing the sun. Although the meaning is not explained, one can assume the green part would represent the Muslim minority in otherwise Hindu state, something like the Pakistani flag does with their minorities. The National Emblem is depicted by the green circle in another, saffron colored circle with word "Shri" (symbol of beauty and prosperity) written in the saffron circle. The National Anthem is a song of poet Dijendra Lal Roy: "Dhana Dhanye Pushpe Bhara, Arnader Ei Basundhara" ("This land of ours filled with crops and flowers").​

 

[Saif]

https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/bangasena-blows-battle-bugle/cid/859931

Bangasena blows battle bugle

Jalpaiguri, Nov. 24: Echoing Bal Thackeray, the Bangasena today said it was forming "suicide squads" to strengthen the war against jihad and announced that it would launch its struggle for independence with an assault on the Bongaon border on February 18 next year.

"Senapradhan" Kalidas Baidya made the declaration at a public meeting in Vivekananda Palli, on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri.

The Bangasena was formed on March 25, 1982, to form a homeland for Bengali Hindus hailing from erstwhile East Bengal. This is the first time that it has announced a strike.

"Our Bangasenas will try to enter Bangladesh territory through the border. It will be just the beginning of our retaliation," Baidya said.

Cadets of the outfit, from all over the state and other parts of the country, will start assembling at Bongaon from the second week of February. The organisation will also hold a public rally on the Bongaon border. "Also, this would be the initiation of the struggle to end Islamic jihad," Baidya added.

Speaker after speaker at today's meeting lashed out at the Bangladesh government headed by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. They demanded that the government in Dhaka hand over six districts of that country to the Bengali Hindus so they can form an independent country, "Bangabhumi".

Ratan Debnath, a leader of the organisation hailing from Guma in North 24 Parganas, attacked the Bangladesh government and "warned of the ensuing battle".

Debnath disclosed that the organisation was training its cadets for the battle. "We are calling all youths between 18 and 30 years of age to join the organisation and take part in the war," he said.

"Like other such organisations in the world engaged in a freedom struggle for their homeland, we are also creating suicide squads which would help us achieve our goal."

Debnath said the Bangasena is conducting training camps in different parts of India and Bangladesh. "Our cadets are being trained in the art of waging a war. They are learning those strategies and skills," he added, but refused to divulge details.

The outfit also has cadets and branches in Bangladesh. "Earlier, we used to work openly in that country as we do here. But we went underground after some our members were arrested," Debnath said.

About 300 cadets from all over the state took part in today's rally. "We have waited and prepared for 20 long years. It is time to retaliate now to achieve our goal," Baidya said.

"Our secret cell is also working for the success of the mission. We are getting ready to send them in the battle," the septuagenarian leader added.

Describing the Indo-Bangla border as a "fake frontier", the leaders raised anti-Bangladesh slogans and criticised the state and the Central governments for not granting citizenship to those who have infiltrated into India from that country.

The organisation demanded that each infiltrator should be provided with a sum of Rs 2,000 per month for his living and they should be considered as refugees and not infiltrators.

Police had beefed up security to maintain law and order. Jalpaiguri superintendent of police Siddh Nath Gupta said: "They are going for a peaceful meeting. We have deployed police personnel there and are also keeping watch on the meeting."​

 

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Border Delineation and Geopolitical Wrangling between India and Bangladesh - GeoCurrents

Progress on the India-Bangladesh border barrier has been slower than expected, due in part to difficulties in determining precisely where the border runs. Such problems might seem surprising. In the standard model of geopolitics, international borders are clearly delineated, one-dimensional...

www.geocurrents.info

Border Delineation and Geopolitical Wrangling between India and Bangladesh



Progress on the India-Bangladesh border barrier has been slower than expected, due in part to difficulties in determining precisely where the border runs. Such problems might seem surprising. In the standard model of geopolitics, international borders are clearly delineated, one-dimensional lines that absolutely separate sovereign states. In practice, however, borders are often contested and sometimes indistinct—and few are as fraught as the boundary separating India from Bangladesh. The conflict is serious enough to have produced a micro-war in 2001, which according to some reports took 100 lives.

The origins of the Indo-Bangladeshi border dispute predate British colonialism. As in Europe, traditional polities in South Asia often consisted of dispersed territories.

Lands sometimes passed back and forth among different rulers and dynasties, generating intricate arrangements that might eventually be inherited by modern countries. Such was the case in a large swath of the India-Bangladesh boundary. According to an often-told story, two rulers, the Raja of Cooch Behar and the Nawab of Rangpur, divvied plots of land with abandon. As related in a Time magazine story:

the rulers … staked games of chess with plots of land. To settle their debts, they passed chits — pieces of paper representing the territory won or lost — back and forth. When Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the law lord who partitioned India, drew the 1947 border, Cooch Behar went to India and Rangpur to Bangladesh — including the people who lived on the two kings' 162 "chit mahals," or paper palaces.



Regardless of the story's accuracy (see Editstreet for an alternative view), the Indo-Bangladeshi border in the vicinity of Cooch Behar remains staggeringly complex. On the Indian side of the main demarcation line, one finds 92 pieces of Bangladesh, while on the Bangladeshi side one finds 106 Indian exclaves. (The map posted here predates Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan, but the same situation obtained afterward.) As can be seen, some plots are doubly enclaved: in other words, a few Bangladeshi territories are wholly surrounded by Indian territory, which in turn are wholly surrounded by Bangladeshi territory. Although not easily visible on the map, another level of complexity is encountered as well. As Evgeny Vinokurov recounts in his A Theory of Enclaves (2007, Lexington Books), Dahala-Khagrabari is a sliver of India (a jute field, more or less) engulfed by Bangladeshi land that is enclosed by Indian land that is encircled by Bangladeshi land, thus forming, in technical parlance, a counter-counter-enclave.

India and Bangladesh agreed to clean up their border with land swaps as early as 1974, since a politically fractured landscape creates humanitarian as well as geopolitical concerns. Initial talks came to nothing, however, and the resulting tensions provoked the 2001 border clash. That conflicted ended with promises of renewed negotiations, but subsequent progress was minimal. The Wikipedia describes conditions in the enclaves today as "abysmal," while Sujit Roy depicts them as hellish places where "looting, arson, rape, [and] murder, is all in a day's work." Construction of the border barrier raised the stakes, resulting in a resumption of talks in 2010 and 2011. Resulting land exchanges may clarify the divide between the two countries, but they will not necessarily benefit the inhabitants of the aberrant territories. According to Sujit Roy, "As soon as news of settlement arrived…, land sharks became active and started evicting people forcibly, especially in the Indian enclaves in Bangladesh." The result, Roy claims, is "a new chapter of woes" for the roughly 200,000 inhabitants of the enclaves.

Fencing off India from Bangladesh does not require the elimination of all enclaves, or even a precise delineation of the border. By international convention, barriers between countries are not supposed to follow the actual borders, but are rather to parallel them 150 meters inside the country responsible for the fencing. By honoring this provision, India has walled off some of its own territory. A number of Indian hamlets now find themselves on the Bangladeshi side of the fence, generating serious hardships for their residents. Farmlands are also being partitioned. According to the revenue and finance minister of the Indian state of Tripura, in his state alone "over 8,730 Indian families' homes, paddy fields, lands, farms and other assets had fallen outside the fence," encompassing "over 19,359 acres of land."
Due both to such dislocations and to topographical constrains, India has been negotiating with Bangladesh for leeway. In early 2011, Bangladesh agreed to let India run the barricade along the official border in certain areas. But any such "zero-line" partitioning, Bangladesh insists, can only entail a single line of barbed-wire fencing. Indo-Bangladeshi negotiations also led to a recent announcement that the two countries would agree to "joint inspection of 20 out of the 46 unfenced patches along the border."



Bangladesh's cooperation with India is likely linked to its desire for concessions on related issues. Dhaka's economic concerns were discussed in last Thursday's post; also to note is its call for New Delhi to crack down on opponents of the Bangladeshi government active on Indian soil. Of particular concern is Bangabhumi Andolan, an organization dedicated to carving out a Hindu-dominated country from southeastern Bangladesh. Although Hindus are relatively numerous in this region (see map), they are still clearly outnumbered by Muslims. Bangabhumi Andolan hopes to create a Hindu majority through the immigration of those who left or were forced out of the region during and after the partition of 1947, although the removal of Muslims would probably be necessary as well. In 2003, movement organizers symbolically declared the independence of the Hindu Republic of Bangabhumi (alternatively called Bir Bango).



Although Bangabhumi Andolan does not seem to be very potent, Bangladesh is worried. According to Bangladeshi sources, "the movement has set up more than a dozen training centres with clandestine supply of money and arms … with the objective of arms struggle for creation of the Hindu land." It has also staged public rallies on Indian territory, most recently in July 2010. Both Bangladeshi and Pakistani sources have accused India of supporting Bangabhumi Andolan in order to destabilize Bangladesh. According to Pakistan Defense, the Indian external intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) created the group in order to "disintegrate Bangladesh." Several hard-core Hindu nationalist groups have rallied to the cause. A 2003 article on an extremist website asks, "how long can the Hindus live under House-Arrest in the Barbaric Bhoot-Bangla of Bangladesh?" The article itself is tellingly entitled, "Recognize The New Hindu State As You Cowards Recognize Islamic Bogusdesh." (According to the website in which it appears, Bangladesh is a "bogus" country—hence "Bogusdesh"—originally "created by the British … [as East Pakistan] to cut off direct land, spiritual, trade and cultural communications between Hindu Bharat and Buddhist Myanmar.")

If the Indian intelligence agency RAW has indeed created Bangabhumi Andolan to use against Bangladesh, it could be playing with a two-edged sword. Recent reports claim that the organization also wants to hive off a section of the Indian state of West Bengal for its proposed country, thus potentially diminishing India. It is entirely possible, however, that Bangladeshi partisans would regard such claims to Indian territory as a mere smokescreen, designed to superficially distance Bangabhumi Andolan from its handlers in Indian intelligence. In South Asian geopolitics, such allegations of subterfuge are hard to escape.​

 

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The flag of the proposed Bangabhumi state comprises of one third green color and two third of saffron color.