West Bengal border village residents face 'government apathy, dejection'

By Kirity Roy*

Miserable situation prevails in a West Bengal village where the residents are facing governmental apathy and dejection. Dakhin Jhaukuthi is under Balabhut Gram Panchayet of Toofangunj I block of Cooch Behar district. This village is totally isolated from mainland India and encircled by border fencing between India and Bangladesh.

Nearly 70-80 families consisting of 450 inhabitants, all belong to Muslim backward or general castes. The villagers cultivate nearly 122.3 acres of three yielding land but without any proper facility of irrigation.

The roads of this village are dirt roads and that too in a dilapidated state. There is no school in the village, the primary health center is 6 kilometers away while the Block Health Center is 18 kilometers, primary school and secondary schools are 2 kilometers and 3 kilometers from the village respectively.

The villagers state that the condition of the roads is unchanged ever since Indian gained Independence. The political dispensations in power have changed from time to time but the miseries of the residents not.

Apart from this the village is without any facility for potable drinking water. Though the lands of this village can yield three crops in a year, without proper facilities of irrigation, the farmers are unable to cultivate their lands and are facing huge financial loss.

The villagers use hand pumps to quench their thirst, which they bore their own at 30-35 feet deep. They are devoid from any governmental development schemes at this village and they have no land at any other part of India to settle.

Miseries of the residents has further increased by the arbitrary restrictions by the Border Security Force personnel to reach the agrarian lands of the villagers at the other side of the border fence through gate number 17 of Jhaukuthi Border Outpost, ‘F’ Company of 14 BSF Battalion. The list of affected farmers is quite long, a few examples are:

Amia Bibi, local Panchayet member, said that the posted BSF personnel restrict the villagers to cultivate the lands which are surrounded by the border fence. They also create hindrance to construct roads. She assured that she will discuss the issues of drinking water and irrigation facilities with the Panchayet chief.

On March 18, 2024, villagers submitted a mass petition signed by nearly 100 family heads to the Block Development Officer of Tufanganj I Block. When the representatives of the village made request to the BDO to discuss their demands, he showed his inability and said ‘submit your complaint, corrective measures will be taken later.’

Necessary corrective measures needed include:

Take immediate actions to reconstruct the roads of Dakkhin Jhaukuthi and convert it to asphalt or concrete road, immediate measures to provide the villagers potable drinking water and irrigation facilities.
Give proper direction to BSF authority for withdrawal of the arbitrary restrictions on movement and agricultural activities, OR shift the villagers after due acquisition of lands.

---

*Secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha, Hooghly. This article is based on the author's complaint to the the Principal Secretary, Home Department, Government of West Bengal

Comments

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Saffron Kingdom – a cinematic counter-narrative to The Kashmir Files

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* “Saffron Kingdom” is a film produced in the United States by members of the Kashmiri diaspora, positioned as a response to the 2022 release “The Kashmir Files.” While the latter focused on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and framed Kashmiri Muslims as perpetrators of violence, “Saffron Kingdom” seeks to present an alternate perspective—highlighting the experiences of Kashmiri Muslims facing alleged abuses by Indian security forces.

From lazy to lost? The myths and realities behind generational panic about youth

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak Older generations in many societies often describe the young with labels such as “lazy, unproductive, lost, anxious, depoliticised, unpatriotic or wayward.” Others see them as “social media, mobile phone and porn addicts.” Such judgments arise from a generational anxiety rooted in fears of losing control and from distorted perceptions about youth, especially in the context of economic crises, conflicts, and wars in which many young lives are lost.

'Govts must walk the talk on gender equality, right to health, human rights to deliver SDGs by 2030'

By A Representative With just 64 months left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global health and rights advocates have called upon governments to honour their commitments on gender equality and the human right to health. Speaking ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts warned that rising anti-rights and anti-gender pushes are threatening hard-won progress on SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) and SDG-5 (gender equality).

Counterview

Search This Blog