Disabled man languishes in jail for 8 years without trial for allegedly crossing Indo-Bangla border

Unable to communicate, the police are yet to establish the identity of a deaf and mute man they arrested for allegedly crossing the Indian-Bangladesh border illegally eight years ago.Siliguri: After a youth was forced to spend eight long years of his life in the darkness of a prison cell, the judiciary finally ‘noticed’ that the authorities who had sent him there were yet to establish his crime. Even though at the time of his arrest, the BSF had accused him of infiltrating India from Bangladesh, none of the authorities concerned could so far establish his identity and nationality to prove the charge.The incident came to the notice of the Jalpaiguri district court after the case came before it for review recently. The court immediately asked the police to confirm the youth’s identity and send him back to Bangladesh if it is established that he is an infiltrator, but the order has put the cops in a fix: They are unable to communicate with him because he is both hearing and speech impaired, as well as illiterate— he cannot write down even his name, forget his address of origin.Sources in the police department told 101Reporters that the youth was arrested by BSF personnel on February 27, 2013 from Fulbari, a place near the Indo-Bangladesh border in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. He was later handed over to Siliguri Metropolitan Police who filed an FIR and sent him to Jalpaiguri district jail. Even though the police had tried to establish his identity and nationality at that time, they failed. The only evidence that made the police suspect that he is of Bangladeshi origin are a few items they found in his possession at the time of his arrest — Rs 52 in Bangladeshi currency, a religious book on Islam and a receipt for contributing Rs 100 to an Islamic fund.The New Jalpaiguri outpost under the Bhakti Nagar police station, where the accused was sent to after his arrest, has now become a police station, but the youth continued to languish in the prison with the authorities closing the probe for want of evidence and forgetting that the accused was yet to be set free. According to law experts, the Foreigners Act 1946 requires that if the authorities failed to prove within a stipulated time any criminal intent behind a person crossing the border without valid documents, the latter has to be deported to his or her country of origin through the embassy concerned. This process is called “push-back”. The trouble before the authorities in this case is that they have no means to prove the nationality of the arrested youth—whether he is a Bangladeshi or an Indian. And what lies ahead for this hapless youth is that till his identity is established, he may have to languish in jail—probably even for the rest of his life.The disabled prisoner (left) during his arrest eight years go and (right) recently (Pictures sourced by Roshan Gupta)“We are taking all possible steps to find the identity of this person. All we have is his photograph, nothing else. We have sought help from the Bangladesh embassy to trace the youth’s place of origin if he is from that country,” a police official told 101Reporters, adding that they brought in a sign language interpreter to communicate with the arrested youth, but in vain.  Dalia Roy, a social activist and intern lawyer dealing with cases relating to immigrants in jail, said that the document recovered from the accused was not enough to prove that he was a Bangladeshi. Moreover, bringing in a sign language interpreter would help only if the other person is able to understand the sign language. “In this case, the matter must be brought before the Bangladesh embassy and investigated so that the victim gets justice,” Roy said.

Pineapple farmers in WB reeling under financial crisis

Bidhannagar, West Bengal: In the north region of West Bengal, pineapple farmers are still reeling under huge financial stress owing to the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19. Many farmers are yet to recover the costs they incurred during the production. At least one lakh people are associated with pineapple farming in Bidhannagar under Islampur subdivision of North Dinajpur district. Spread over 20,000 hectares, pineapple cultivation in Bidhannagar contributes around 80% to the state output and nearly half of India's total 20 lakh metric tonne yield. According to the Bidhannagar Pineapple Produce Company (BPPC), a private agency responsible for pineapple production in the region, pineapples across 555 hectares land weighing 21,000 metric tonnes, worth Rs 42 crore, hasn’t even been harvested. Badal Sarker, president, BPPC, stated that the lockdown had a negative impact on the pineapple farmers as they are incurring huge losses. The farmers are not able to sell their produce in the market and the pineapples are rotting in the gardens, causing loss of crores of rupees, he added. However, after the restrictions have been lifted, the situation has been partially stabilised, he pointed out. Under stressFarmers lament the high costs of taking care of each sapling. A majority of farmers had taken loans to grow their crops and in the absence of a market to sell their produce, they are under tremendous pressure.Manas Singh, 28, who cultivated pineapple in 20 acres of land in Bidhannagar, stated that most of the farmers had taken loans after the productivity last year, hoping to make good profits, but the lockdown shattered their hopes. To take care of a sapling, one spends approximately Rs 15, but under present circumstances, farmers like him aren’t being able to cover the production costs, he added. “Most of us have taken Kisan Credit Card loans to do farming. However, the government has given a relaxation of three months but what after that? How will we pay the loan back? It is going to be difficult for us to survive in such conditions,” he mentioned.He pointed out that the 1.35 lakh metric tonne pineapple yield last year prompted many farmers in the area to get into pineapple farming. Pineapples grown in Bidhannagar. Credit: Roshan GuptaHowever, Nakul Kumar Ghosh, who has been in pineapple cultivation for 35 years, stated that he sold about 26 tonnes of his 36 tonnes yield from the March-April period. While the usual rate is Rs 15 per kilogramme of pineapple, Ghosh mentioned he sold 10 tonnes of his yield for Rs 4 per kilogramme, another 10 tonnes for Rs 6 per kilogramme and the remaining portion for Rs 12 per kilogramme to a factory in Uttarakhand. He said he still has about two lakh pineapples unsold in his farm, but as the demand has decreased, no one is purchasing his produce. Pineapples from Bidhannagar are sent to Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jammu, Gorakhpur, New Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow and other neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bhutan.Another local farmer Ajit Das, who cultivates pineapple in 15 acres of land, stated he sold 20 tonnes of pineapple at Rs 4 per kilogramme, while the rest was rotten. Speaking to 101Reporters, Pradeep Singha, CEO Sonar Bangla Agro Farmer Producer Company, an agency that leases land to the farmers to grow pineapples, mentioned that after the lockdown was imposed, the pineapples have started to ripen in the garden, but can’t be exported, as the pineapples are plucked 10 days prior to their ripening for export purposes. As the exports have been closed, the farmers are selling them off at a cheaper price which does not cover their production cost, he mentioned. However, he pointed out that the situation has improved after the restrictions have lifted and they are hoping to start exports by the second or third week of January.