MALDA: Hundreds of men and women in this part of Bengal exercised their franchise for the first time which otherwise ought to have been done some decades back. Not surprisingly, they waited for long with muted anticipation, wore new dhotis and saris, crossed the Ganga in boats, showed their Election Photo Identity Cards ( EPICs) with the jubilation evident on their faces. They are the residents of the Chars of Malda.
For residents of Hamidpur, there was cause enough for celebrations. After all, it took decades before they got the right to vote. By then, many of them had turned 70. Kulesh Mandal, a septuagenarian, regained his right to franchise after a break of 25 years. Thirty-eight-year-old Rahima Biwi was a first timer. Small wonders then that homemakers like Anjali Mandal braved the scorching sun and the long queue to cast their votes. No complaints whatsoever for the long wait either.
The Ganga may be treated with reverence elsewhere but in this part of Malda, she is treated with disdain. Inhabitants of Manikchak, Bangitola and Kaliachak, have seen her gobbling up acres every year, rendering them homeless. Erosion may have given them some respite in the past few years. For the last 20 years, it was a tale of moving further from the riverbank for such people.
"First we made the house at Piyarpur. Within the next two years, we shifted to Khaskol. A few years later, we moved to Jahirtola," said Rajen Mandal. For the past five years, his address is the Char (island) known as Hamidpur. In their bid to move further away from the riverbank, the victims of erosion found them on islands that had surfaced on the Ganga. Land that had once been theirs, was now on the other bank. With no one living on these Chars, villagers began to live there.
But those who managed a hut at Hamidpur, Khatiakhana, Piyarpur and other islands had to pay a heavy price. The administration marked them 'absent' at their original location and their names were deleted from the electoral roll. Thousands like Kedar, Amina, Bifal, Saijuddin, Khidir turned into 'outsiders' in their own country — the largest democracy in the world. Deprived of their basis constitutional right, the islanders soon became a forgotten lot and were even denied basic civic amenities. Busy picking up the pieces of their battered lives, the destitutes were the last ones to think over their rights and duties. Movements on the part of the islanders under the banner of Ganga Bhangan Protirodh Action Committee over the years could hardly yield any result. Md Rabiul, Sanjay Basak and others said: "Without voting right for years, we were treated as second class citizens. Politicians did not care. The civic amenities were conspicuous by their absence."
Things turned full circle when the then DM Sridhar Ghosh visited the island in February 2010. The process of enlisting their names began. At the behest of the Election Commission, on December 4, a team of district administration visited the island to conduct the hearing of 907 applicants. More than 600 people turned up. On January 5, 713 out of 900 odd islanders were included in the revised electoral roll. A hard-earned right for them, voting meant so special to them. They know that with the voting right achieved, other things could just fall in place, in due course of time
For residents of Hamidpur, there was cause enough for celebrations. After all, it took decades before they got the right to vote. By then, many of them had turned 70. Kulesh Mandal, a septuagenarian, regained his right to franchise after a break of 25 years. Thirty-eight-year-old Rahima Biwi was a first timer. Small wonders then that homemakers like Anjali Mandal braved the scorching sun and the long queue to cast their votes. No complaints whatsoever for the long wait either.
The Ganga may be treated with reverence elsewhere but in this part of Malda, she is treated with disdain. Inhabitants of Manikchak, Bangitola and Kaliachak, have seen her gobbling up acres every year, rendering them homeless. Erosion may have given them some respite in the past few years. For the last 20 years, it was a tale of moving further from the riverbank for such people.
"First we made the house at Piyarpur. Within the next two years, we shifted to Khaskol. A few years later, we moved to Jahirtola," said Rajen Mandal. For the past five years, his address is the Char (island) known as Hamidpur. In their bid to move further away from the riverbank, the victims of erosion found them on islands that had surfaced on the Ganga. Land that had once been theirs, was now on the other bank. With no one living on these Chars, villagers began to live there.
But those who managed a hut at Hamidpur, Khatiakhana, Piyarpur and other islands had to pay a heavy price. The administration marked them 'absent' at their original location and their names were deleted from the electoral roll. Thousands like Kedar, Amina, Bifal, Saijuddin, Khidir turned into 'outsiders' in their own country — the largest democracy in the world. Deprived of their basis constitutional right, the islanders soon became a forgotten lot and were even denied basic civic amenities. Busy picking up the pieces of their battered lives, the destitutes were the last ones to think over their rights and duties. Movements on the part of the islanders under the banner of Ganga Bhangan Protirodh Action Committee over the years could hardly yield any result. Md Rabiul, Sanjay Basak and others said: "Without voting right for years, we were treated as second class citizens. Politicians did not care. The civic amenities were conspicuous by their absence."
Things turned full circle when the then DM Sridhar Ghosh visited the island in February 2010. The process of enlisting their names began. At the behest of the Election Commission, on December 4, a team of district administration visited the island to conduct the hearing of 907 applicants. More than 600 people turned up. On January 5, 713 out of 900 odd islanders were included in the revised electoral roll. A hard-earned right for them, voting meant so special to them. They know that with the voting right achieved, other things could just fall in place, in due course of time
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