KAMALPUR, MAY 11, (TIWN): After a prolonged tug-of-war and lots of assurances, meetings, announcements ultimately the disputed land of Chandannagar of this bordered sub-division of Kamalpur declared to be part of India. According to the hyped and acclaimed declaration of our Prime Minster, the land of Chandannagar would be merged with the mainland soon. Obviously, the 40 families who reside in that land become very much hopeful about a permanent solution to their long lasting problem. But, at the same time, the saga of red-tapism and the past make them to dare t believe the reality.

In fact, the problem of disputed border lands is nothing new and probably the land of Chandannagar has witnessed the most twists in that case. Chandannagar always remains a part of royal Tripura. Now, in British India, tea-workers were brought centuries ago by the British from Chotonagpur, Orissa region to work in the tea gardens of Britishers. Those gardens were situated in the erstwhile East Pakistan and present Bangladesh adjacent to Chandannagar. To survive from the inhuman torture of the British owners some of the workers fled to the independent and royal Tripura where the British troop would not enter. But during the Indira-Mujib pact, somehow Chandannagar was shown as a part of Bangladesh and the problem started. Later the locales of Chandannagar and Kamalpur constituted Chandannagar Banchao Committee(Save Chandannagar Committee) and the movement was actively supported by prominent personalities like Late Jiten Paul, Late Bhupen Dutta Bhomik and others in the media sector. Still many inhabitants entered into the mainland leaving properties there and now only 40 families reside there amidst the inflation and threats of BGB.

Now, the announcement of Narenda Modi obviously made them delighted. But at the same time the residents like Mohanlal Parshi, Chandrakumar Ganju, and Sabitri Parshi dare to completely believe in the merger until it got complete.