Heartbreaks as 'Kannakatir Mela' not allowed
On the occasion of Ganga Puja, thousands of people from both Bangladesh and India gathered at the border near Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat today to meet their near and dear ones like every year.
However, they returned home with disappointment as the gathering known as "Kannakatir Mela" was not held today. The Indian BSF did not give permission for it, said BGB officials and locals.
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According to locals, this annual Kannakatir Mela (the fair of tears) has been going on for around 50 years on the bank of the Malda river near the border pillar 915 on the Ghongagachh in Kaliganj upazila.
Many wait for this day to meet their loved ones as the border is kept open for several hours.
Today, hundreds from Bangladesh side waited on the bank of Malda from 10:00am to 4:00pm.
Indian people also gathered near the barbed-wire fence in Ververi area under Sitai Police Station in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. But the BSF did not allow them to meet their loved ones.
At one point, people of both countries were extremely disappointed and finally returned home.
Lt Col Mofazzal Hossan Akhand, commanding officer of BGB Battalion-15 in Lalmonirhat, told The Daily Star that they have no information why the BSF did not allow the fair.
Seeking anonymity, the leader of a BGB patrol team, who was present on the spot, said, "We sent a message to a BSF local team to know the reason. The BSF replied that its high command did not give permission to hold the fair."
Talking to this correspondent, Sudhir Chandra Barman, 80, a resident, said people of both countries have been holding the fair annually since the Liberation War. This year, for the first time, the BSF did not allow it, he added.
Attached here is a video of the gathering held last year:
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