3 weeks ago
Growers seek Shah's intervention for Jalpaiguri grower held in Bangladesh
A tea farmer named Dipankar Gope lives and works very close to the border between India and Bangladesh.
On August 8, some people from Bangladesh took him across the border.
He was handed to the Border Guard Bangladesh and is now in a police station in Panchagarh.
Indian tea growers say he was grabbed while working on his own tea garden, so they think this was unfair.
Newspapers in Bangladesh tell a different story, saying he crossed into their country and villagers caught him there.
Those villagers say they acted because India's Border Security Force had taken away a 78-year-old man from their village.
The border forces of both countries met to talk about the problem but could not agree on a solution.
A group of tea farmers wrote a letter to India's home minister, Amit Shah, asking him to help bring Gope home.
They also asked for more security at the border because many small tea gardens are right next to it.
The farmers are scared to go to work until the situation is made safe.
Dipankar Gope, a small tea grower, was taken to Bangladesh on August 8 while working on his plantation beyond the border fence in Jalpaiguri's Rajganj block.
The Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations (Cista) wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah to facilitate Gope's release.
Gope was handed to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and is now behind bars at the Panchagarh police station.
Bangladeshi media, including The Daily Star, reported villagers detained Gope from a sugarcane field after he allegedly crossed the border, days after BSF detained 78-year-old Tamiz Uddin.
BSF-BGB flag meetings reached no decision, and growers are seeking stronger border surveillance because 200-plus small tea plantations sit near the Bangladesh border.
- Who
- Dipankar Gope, a small tea grower from Jalpaiguri, is held in Bangladesh; the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations (Cista) has appealed to Union home minister Amit Shah.
- What
- Gope was taken to Bangladesh on August 8 while working near the international border, and tea growers are seeking his release through an appeal to the government and BSF-BGB talks.
- Where
- Chaulhati in the Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, at the India-Bangladesh border; Gope is held in Panchagarh, Bangladesh.
- When
- The incident happened on August 8; the appeal and the BSF-BGB flag meetings were reported around August 9.
- Why
- Indian growers say he was seized from his own plantation beyond the fence, while Bangladeshi media report villagers detained him after he allegedly crossed the border, following BSF's detention of a 78-year-old Bangladeshi man.
Indian growers (Cista)
Bangladeshi villagers and media
How Gope was taken
Indian growers (Cista)
Bangladeshis grabbed him while he worked on his own tea plantation on the Indian side and handed him to the BGB.
Bangladeshi villagers and media
Villagers detained him from a sugarcane field after he allegedly crossed into Bangladesh.
Motive behind the detention
Indian growers (Cista)
There was no justification; the incident has created fear, insecurity and uncertainty among border tea growers.
Bangladeshi villagers and media
Villagers acted after BSF allegedly took away 78-year-old Tamiz Uddin of Panchagarh a few days earlier; the BSF has not sent him back.
Key facts
- Detained person
- Dipankar Gope, small tea grower
- Incident date
- August 8
- Where held
- Panchagarh police station, Bangladesh (BGB custody)
- Incident location
- Chaulhati, Rajganj block, Jalpaiguri district, beyond the border fence
- Plantation size
- Around three bighas
- Appeal to
- Union home minister Amit Shah (via Cista)
- Border talks
- BSF-BGB flag meetings; no decision reached
- Related case
- Tamiz Uddin, 78, of Panchagarh, detained by BSF
Quotes
Bijoygopal Chakraborty
President of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations (Cista)
“We have urged the home minister to facilitate his release and return to his homeland.”
telegraphindia.com
Sources
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