Lesson 4/45 min
Enclaves, Tin Bigha and the 2015 exchange
What is an enclave
- Enclave: a piece of one state completely surrounded by another, so access has to go through the other state's land
- The 1947 boundary commission is known as the Radcliffe Commission; its Radcliffe Line also marks the Bangladesh-India border
- When India put up border pillars in 1952, the enclave problem became clear (Zubair)
Enclaves: how many on each side (before 2015)
| Where | Whose enclaves | Count by district | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inside India (West Bengal) | Bangladesh's | Cooch Behar 47, Jalpaiguri 4 | 51 |
| Inside Bangladesh | India's | Lalmonirhat 59, Panchagarh 36, Kurigram 12, Nilphamari 4 | 111 |
| Both countries | — | 51 + 111 | 162 |
Area and special facts
- The 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in India cover about 7,110 acres
- The 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh cover about 17,160 acres (Khandokar prints 17,158.75; government and other sources give 17,160.63)
- Lalmonirhat was called the enclave-ringed district (Zubair)
- Bangladesh's largest enclave was Dahagram-Angarpota in Patgram upazila (Lalmonirhat), on the Teesta, inside Cooch Behar
- The much-discussed Moshaldanga enclave is in Kurigram (Zubair)
Watch out: Khandokar prints a total of 26,258.75 acres, but 7,110 + 17,158.75 = 24,268.75 acres; the printed total looks wrong, so it is left out. Both books print ‘35’ (sq km or sq miles) for Dahagram-Angarpota, but other sources give about 4,617 acres (about 18.7 sq km), so no area is given here.
Tin Bigha Corridor
| Item | Fact |
|---|---|
| Location | On the Teesta; between Mekhliganj in Cooch Behar (West Bengal) and Patgram in Lalmonirhat |
| Size | 178 × 85 m |
| Purpose | The passage from the mainland to Dahagram-Angarpota |
| Exchange under the 1974 pact | Bangladesh hands over Berubari (Panchagarh); in return it was to get the Tin Bigha corridor |
| To validate the pact | The third amendment to the constitution (1974) |
| First opened | 26 June 1992 (Khaleda Zia-Narasimha Rao era); 6 hours in all, an hour at a time (Zubair) |
| Later | From 2001, 12 hours (7:30 am to 7:30 pm); in 2011, 24 hours (Manmohan Singh-Sheikh Hasina) |
Watch out: The date when Tin Bigha opened for 24 hours is 8 September 2011 in Khandokar, just ‘2011’ in Zubair, and October 2011 in another source. So only ‘2011’ is used here. Khandokar says it was given ‘on lease’ in 2011.
Sequence of events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1947 | Radcliffe Commission draws the India-Pakistan boundary |
| 16 May 1974 | Land Boundary Agreement (Mujib-Indira pact), New Delhi |
| 26 June 1992 | India first opens the Tin Bigha corridor |
| 2011 | Corridor open 24 hours |
| Midnight of 31 July 2015 (1 August 2015) | Enclave exchange takes effect; the problem ends after 68 years |
Check yourself
How many enclaves were exchanged in 2015 in all?
At a glance
- 1
162 enclaves: India's 111 in Bangladesh (Lalmonirhat 59, Panchagarh 36, Kurigram 12, Nilphamari 4), Bangladesh's 51 in India.
- 2
The exchange took effect at midnight of 31 July 2015 (1 August), after 68 years.
- 3
Boundary agreement 16 May 1974 (Mujib-Indira); Berubari in return for Tin Bigha.
- 4
Tin Bigha corridor on the Teesta, 178 × 85 m, the way to Dahagram-Angarpota; first opened 26 June 1992.
- 5
The 1947 boundary commission: the Radcliffe Commission.