Celebrations beyond the barbed wires

Dipali Rani (55), from Lalmonirhat's Patgram upazila, came to  Nabinagar Meserghat border  yesterday noon to meet her daughter Sheuli Rani, who has been  residing at Cooch Behar of West Bengal for the last 15 years.

After searching for her daughter amid a crowd of thousands, Dipali finally got a glance of her, who was standing across the barbed wire fence, which divides the two countries.

Tears of joy started rolling from the eyes of the mother-daughter duo, as they were seeing each other after years.

"I came to the border this time last year, but was unable to see my daughter as there were restrictions in place for the pandemic," said Dipali.

Reunion was the recurring theme of the day, as thousands of Bangla-speaking people gathered at the no man's land of the border, to meet their relatives on the other side. The border was left open for three hours on the occasion of Kali Puja.

Standing on both sides of the barbed wire fence, relatives exchanged greetings and gifts  with their near and dear ones from 1:00pm yesterday.

Locals said after the 1947 partition, meeting relatives living in the two countries became very hard, especially for those who can't get passports or visas, or don't have the expenses for official procedures.

So, such fairs are held once a year on the occasion of Kali Puja to provide these people the opportunity to celebrate with their relatives living on the other side, locals added.

Sirajul Islam (65) from Lalmonirhat came to the border to meet his younger sister Sakhina Bibi (50), who lives in Cooch Behar.

"After searching for an hour, I found my sister  on the other side of the barbed fence around 2:30pm. We started crying immediately as we were seeing each other after four years," he said.

 "My sister brought some winter clothes, and I took some Bangladeshi fabrics to exchange," he added. But they could not do so due to security reasons.

Echoing the same, Shibendu Chandra Barmon (64) from Lalmonirhat, saying that he was overjoyed seeing his relatives after years, but couldn't even hug them as officials had restrictions in place.

Patgram upazila's Bawra Union Parishad Chairman Rabiul Islam, said people from different villages in Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Kurigram and Gaibandha came to reunite with their loved ones on this day, even if it was only for three hours.

 "Around 8,000 to 10,000 people gathered on both sides of the barbed wire fence," he said. "The border guards were vigilant during the event, which ended at 3:00pm."