To me one of the best part of being a communications coordinator is that I get to meet varied people in the community, both sponsored and non-sponsored and every meeting is a learning experience for me. In one of my recent visits to the villages along the Indo-Bangladesh border, I had a very interesting experience – I met a sponsored family living in no man’s land between India and Bangladesh, in the village of Shilberia and this is the first time I have met someone living in “no man’s zone” between two countries.

Fencing started at the Indo-Bangladesh border in 1986 to curb cross border movement. Due to this many Indian families have fallen outside fencing and a huge quantum of Indian land has fallen in the 'no man's zone'. Those who could afford it moved inland and abandoned houses like the one in the photo below is a common sight, but for some like the Sarkar family movement was not an option due to economic reasons. Indeed, the border fence has cut off thousands of Indians from the rest of India and the people residing in such no-man’s land have to now show their ID cards to pass through the border gates into their own country.

At one such border checkpost I watched Munmun Sarkar, resident of Nichpara, pass through the gate after her credentials were checked by the BSF border guards and I talked to her to find out how it is to live in the no-man’s land:

“Q: What is it like living in a no man’s land? Munmun: Our family has lived in this particular plot for the past 35 years and we did not have the wherewithal to move when the fencing came up in this area in 1995. The main problem that we face is that of movement from fenced Indian land to Indian mainland. Being under constant vigilance of the Border Security Forces is at times stressful. There are also certain protocols that we have to follow if we have visitors or if we stay out late as the border gates have fixed times of opening and shutting. Also, if someone falls ill at night it takes a while to get proper authorization for the gates to open beyond the scheduled time.

What’s more, there are associated problems of smuggling as this is a very porous border. This is corrupting the community. There are so many young people who get enticed into drug trafficking because of poverty and difficult living conditions. These young men and women drop out of school because of poor economic condition of their families and then take to smuggling to relieve their boredom and to make quick money. Often this leads to disastrous results with lives being lost. Luckily for me, while we are poor and have to live here, being sponsored makes a world of a difference. I can continue to go to school, attend youth group meetings, take the various trainings, avail of the health benefits etc. While being a girl and living in a no man’s land has its own baggage, the number of trainings that we have received as members of the youth group has equipped me to handle these problems with confidence. The program has made me aware of what I can achieve if I put my mind to it. I am now more aware of my rights and can be quite vocal about it. Being in the program has given me the strength to say no to my peers who have at times wanted me to join in their schemes of making quick money in a border area. Infact with my communication skills, negotiating skills and problem solving skills that I have learned through leadership training I have tried to wean some of the youth away from their present violent lifestyles.

While we were talking the hands of the clock was slowly creeping towards 6PM and noticing this Munmun, along with a few others turned to leave India and return to their homes beyond the border fence as they do everyday, before the gates closed shutting them out.After meeting this exceptionally mature young adult who lives in an area where steel wires have divided people, communities and villages even though they share the same linguistic, ethnic and cultural similarities, I felt that for the many many sponsored youth living in these border areas, this program offers a beacon hope, the ship that will take them to safety, away from poverty and deprivation, to places where nationality and sovereignty are not alien concepts.