She is mentally challenged, unable to identify herself, and stranded alone for the past 11 days on the river bed that separates the two countries

In Sadaat Hasan Manto’s well-known story on Partition Toba Tek Singh, mentally challenged Bishan Singh is being taken from an asylum in Lahore to India, and in confusion over whether his village Toba Tek Singh is in Pakistan and why is he taken to India, he finally falls dead in the no man’s land between the barbed wire fence of both the countries.

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The reference made in this poignant Partition fable is eerily similar to a situation that has developed for the past ten days along the India Bangladesh border in south Tripura district on the Indian side and the Khagrachari district on the Bangladesh side.

No documents

A middle-aged woman who, according to the authorities, is mentally challenged, has for the past 11 days been forced to remain in the no man’s land between the border check posts of India and Bangladesh. The river Feni serves as the international border between the two countries in the region and woman has been stranded on the river bed between Sabroom subdivision on the Indian side and Ramgarh town on Bangladesh side. The woman, of course, has no documents to prove her nationality and nobody knows for sure from where she landed in such a place.

But what is clear from the account of officials is that she is living on the sand of the river bed under the sun and enduring occasional rain showers since April 2. To make matters worse, the lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak has made authorities on both sides jittery, with neither side willing to rescue the woman from her ordeal. The borders have been sealed to fight the pandemic and orders have been issued that nobody should be allowed to cross the borders.

‘At highest level’

“As of now, the woman remains there [in the no man’s land]. The matter has been discussed at the highest level between the BSF (Border Security Force) and their counterparts in Bangladesh,” District Magistrate (DM)-South Tripura Debapriya Bardhan told The Hindu. The DM said that alerts have been issued to the local police station in the area but her whereabouts could not be traced to any area on the Indian side.

Officials of the Tripura Frontier of the BSF admitted to the imbroglio in the situation but said that they were convinced that the woman is Bangladeshi national.

“There is nothing we can do. The investigation carried out by us and by the police has revealed that she is not an Indian national,” C. L. Belwa, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and Pubic Relations Officer of Tripura Frontier of the BSF, said.

Mr. Belwa said that talks have been held with the BSF’s Bangladeshi counterpart — the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) — at least three times, once at a Commandant level meeting followed by two talks at the Sector Commandant (DIG) level meeting to sort out the issue.

“Initially, they [the BGB] tried to prevail over us. But we said that there are no records of her nationality and we cannot take her,” the BSF officer said.

Strict lockdown

Officials in south Tripura maintained that the lockdown is strictly enforced and people of bordering areas are not allowed to go to the river in such circumstances, and that it was difficult for a woman to cross the border outpost and get into no man’s land. Tripura shares an 856 km border with Bangladesh, the second-longest after West Bengal.

Media reports from Bangladesh quoting officials of BGB, however, claimed that the woman had “come from India”. There are reports that the BGB has hung posters in the Ramgarh bordering areas, hoping to find the woman’s relatives. Officials of the BSF said the the women was first seen on April 2, and when she tried to cross to the Bangladeshi side, stones were thrown from the Bangladesh side, which prevented her from returning.

Villagers help

Local villagers are providing her with food and water. A couple of days ago, a group of journalists from the Indian side went and spoke to the woman. Videos of the conversation uploaded on social media reveal that the woman, clad in a red sari, appearing to be in her 40s, is speaking in Bengali. She, however, could not reveal her identity and there was no clear response from her when asked about her husband.

The BSF, however, have shared videos where the woman is referring to words like “Mirpur” and “Farooq”.

Amidst these claims and counter-claims, it is not clear how long she will remain stranded on the river bed between the two countries, and whether she will be rescued at all before she meets a fate akin to that of Manto’s tragic Bishan Singh.