BSF opens up Assam gates for families living beyond Bangladesh border fence to vote | India News

Silchar: BSF personnel deployed vehicles and opened border gates early on Thursday to help at least 70 families living across the barbed wire fence along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam’s Sribhoomi district to reach polling stations and cast their votes, making the exercise a powerful claim of identity for residents of Karimganj South assembly constituency. The voters are from five villages – Gabindpur, North Lafasail, Tesua, Deutli and Maishashan – which are outside the fence and physically separated from the Indian mainland. “The BSF opened the gate early and helped us reach the polling booth in their own vehicle. It was a huge help,” said a local voter. After polling, BSF personnel sent the villagers back to their homes. “We are serious about voting because it reassures us that we are Indians, and not just residents of a forgotten land,” Voter added. Sources said the BSF facilitated the election campaign in the run-up to the polls by manning the border gates and allowing candidates and their supporters to enter these remote settlements near the Zero Line. The villages remain outside the fence due to the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol, which prevents permanent construction or fencing within 150 yards of the actual border. Residents of these settlements live under strict movement restrictions, with border gates usually closed from 7pm to 6am. “In case of emergency, we are always there to help and take them to the nearest town, even after scheduled hours,” said a BSF official. The government is working to rehabilitate villages located outside the fence in Sribhoomi Bangladesh shares a 92 km border with the district. In neighboring Cachar district, which shares a 32 km border with Bangladesh, villages that were once outside the fence have been resettled within the barbed wire fence in the past few years. Similarly, efforts are underway to relocate families to Sribhoomi